The Bloody Thorns of a Rose
by Zizichan96
Summary: A pair of female twins, born to Juri and Haruka. They bring with them a terrible curse; the destruction of the entire Vampire race. Can Saya and Diva Kuran defy this destiny, reunite with their family and use their strange powers to save their loved ones?
1. Chapter 1

**This was written jointly by me and Princesa de la Luna. We do not own Vampire Knight, Blood+ or any of the other outside franchise - elements from Mai HiME as well as songs by Vocaloids and from Full Moon o Sagashite as well as other artists are used later on in the fic. **

**We hope you enjoy our Blood+/Vampire Knight Crossover!**

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

The snow was falling thick and fast, clouding the sky and covering the ground, trees and houses with a thick, white, near impenetrable blanket. To slough through it would take more strength than a man, but then, Nathan was not a normal man, and his queen had called him. He would obey, and he would always obey, no matter what obstacles tried to obstruct him.

Grimly, he shut his eyes against the whip of the wind, dragging across every piece of exposed flesh like thousands of tiny daggers. He concentrated, and the snow within about twenty metres radius of him began to melt, but the snow still falling was quickly covering up his work.

He opened his eyes again, a solitary dark figure among the trees, and began to slog once more, his eyes narrowing as he pushed his body beyond the limits of even a vampire. Briefly, the wind dropped slightly, and he turned his face to the clouded sky.

His breath clouded the cold air in front of him as he breathed out in shock, his eyes wide. For despite the clouds and snow flying through the frigid air, the moon was clearly visible, shining balefully bright without shedding any light upon the snow covered ground. Not far from this glowing spectrum was an even more unusual sight; the moon's red star, visible only every one hundred years, lit up like a fiery beacon across the snowy land.

"This… is a strange night." He spoke aloud, as if to reassure himself that he was real; his breath fogging in front of his face again. Nathan rubbed his bare hands together in a futile effort to warm them up, and moved on; every step taking him closer to that house, still hidden by the snow.

-n/s-

_There is a legend among the Vampire kind about twins…And it carried across to the Vampire Hunters… _

_The Curse of the Twins. _

_Old, and mostly forgotten, because it is exactly due to this curse that no Twins, Vampire or Hunter, have ever been born. And they shall never be born, though they may be conceived…_

_But while in the womb, one twin shall devour the other, and so be born with the strength of two. Any twins born would be incomplete, and eventually the stronger would devour the weaker. _

_When the Hunters became aware of this occurrence, they became even angrier at the Vampires. How could they keep this fact from them? It was not that important, but it irked them. They let it pass, seeing reason. But no more. On a snowy night when both the blood cold moon and the moon's fiery star shone, a pair of twins were born to the most powerful Hunter lineage. Their power balance was exactly equal; neither had devoured the other in the womb, not even the smallest bite._

_The Hunters did not know what to make of this; wary of these powerful brothers so loyal to each other. That loyalty did not last; and soon the streets ran thick with blood and tears. The Hunters have never forgiven the Vampires for many things, and the fate of their twins is one of them._

_But the Hunters received their revenge; in the form of another curse involving twins. 'If ever a pair of twins are born to the Vampire Race, they shall have power, different types that only when together make the whole. Yet the pair shall never be able to work together, fated to fight till they are coated with each other's blood. Each shall have no weakness, but for the blood of the other, and so their war shall wage its bloody way across history, dooming the Race of the Vampires.'_

_Beware the curse of the Vampire Twins, especially if they be female; for a female is much more fickle, much harder to reason with. There is hope if they are male, none if they are female. Beware the Female Vampire Twins, for they shall be born, and the Hunters will have their revenge._

-n/s-

The wind rattled the windowpanes, flinging snow against the glowing squares, trying to get in; a hungry monster. But the warm glow of the mansion warded the cold away, and inside was a warm, soft haven, no longer split by screams, but instead silent apart from the crackling of the fire.

Haruka turned his gaze from the window to his young wife-to-be; who lay panting in his arms, covered with a fine sheen of sweat. The blood between her legs had long stopped flowing as her vampire abilities healed her, and soon all trace of Juri's hardship had been cleaned away by a submissive maid; wiping the red stains away and covering the shaking girl with a clean, white sheet; turned cream by the yellow flickering light.

Juri's chest heaved, but her pulse was slowing and her breathing steadying; it was over, for the most part. Really over. Not the 'over' of two hours ago; when everyone had assumed it was over, and only when Juri began to scream again did they realise it was not.

_Two._ Haruka glanced over to where the maid was bustling over a crib. One crib. But inside that crib, Haruka knew, lay two infants. Not one. Two.

"Haru…ka…" Juri breathed, and instantly his eyes swivelled to meet hers.

"Sshh, it's alright. It's over. You did well, Juri." Haruka breathed softly, pressing his forehead to hers; their dark, curly hair tangling. Slight relief slackened the lines around her young eyes momentarily, before she frowned suddenly, and shifted in agitation.

"Haruka! Are they…" He did not need to wait for the completion of her sentence. He shut his eyes, but answered her nether the less.

"Yes. They are both fine." He said quietly, and he felt her body relax in relief, sinking into the soft mattress. He of course felt it when their parents entered; how could he not? Not only was he a vampire with highly attuned senses, but he had been raised by these people. He knew their presences better than he knew his own. But he did not look up until his name was called; a small act of defiance.

"Haruka." He looked up reluctantly.

"Father." He could see it. The relief that it was over, the tentative joy that they would have a grandchild, written across their faces; both his mother's and his father's. They were _excited_. He closed his eyes against a wave of pain.

"Well? Is it a girl, or a boy?" His mother demanded, coming forwards to stand at the foot of her daughter's bed. He swallowed, but the answer still stuck in his throat; choking him with its unbelievable truth. He heard his mother sigh impatiently and walk over to the crib to find out for herself, heard the clack of her heels, the steadier, more rounded step of his father's shoes as he followed her.

"Holy…." Their father breathed, as their mother gave a shriek and tottered backwards.

"What… What? Haruka! What is going on?" She flew back to the bedside, and he could see the want in her eyes because it was the same want that was echoing through his brain at that very moment. He closed his eyes again.

"No. There's no explanation to save us. Juri and I… have twins. Twin daughters." His voice broke slightly, and he felt Juri stiffen in his arms as he helped her to sit up. The horror Haruka felt was echoed in both his mother's and his fiancé's faces. Their mother sat down suddenly as her legs gave out on the edge of the bed, her face hollow, all traces of previous joy gone.

"Twins… God help us." She murmured. Haruka felt Juri wince as they both felt their father's impending rage; and sure enough he exploded.

"GOD HELP US INDEED!" He yelled, beginning to pace. "GOD HELP US! Why? What have we done to deserve this? You," He turned to face the young couple, his face flushed with rage. "What on earth have you done? Why have children now? Juri is barely seventeen, there's no rush! Now what do we do?" He shouted, but to everyone's relief they could tell that his anger was not directly aimed at them; he did not completely blame them. Their mother stood up, and they both watched her.

"But dear… what can we do?" She asked, wringing her hands in distress. As she posed the question, their father's face closed and became stony.

"I'll tell you what we can do. Get. Rid. Of. Them." He enunciated, ignoring Juri's cry of horror.

"Father!" He turned to face his children, his face grave in the face of Juri's distress.

"No! That's the only way! Do you _want_ to destroy us?" Juri's teeth gritted, and tears sprang to her eyes.

"You choose _now_ to start believing in legends?" She spat at him, livid.

"This is not just a _legend_, Juri, this is a _curse_. A curse from the Hunters, no less. It is not to be taken lightly." His face hardened a little more, as Haruka gaped at him wordlessly. But Juri was already famous for being feisty, and she was not about to back down without a fight.

"They are my _children_!" She hissed.

"You will have other children." He said, still unperturbed in the face of his daughter's wild fury.

"And while I am raising them, I shall have to live with the knowledge that you murdered my first two daughters! And every time I see their faces, I shall wonder what my twin daughters would have looked like!" Juri was sitting up properly now, no longer leaning on Haruka for support, her hands clawed in her tangled sheets.

"They could destroy us all, Juri." He answered softly, and had she been rational she would have heard the quiet pain that both Haruka and her mother heard, but Juri was far from rational.

"They did not choose it! Why should they have to die because of some curse that those Hunters placed upon us?" she demanded, her rage growing.

"Because that is what happens when humans discover us, Juri! We will always be subject to their hate!" He snapped.

"They would not consciously do this! Please, father, you know that neither I nor Haruka would let that happen? We would raise them properly, surely if we raised them in the right way they would be fine-"

"NO!" He cut across her furiously. "I am not willing to take that chance, Juri. See to it that they are destroyed." He said to his wife, before with a brief nod, he left. Haruka instinctively held Juri closer as she began to cry; great heaving sobs that racked her entire body. As Haruka blinked to keep his own tears from falling, his mother strode resolutely over to the crib, and looked down upon her two granddaughters.

They all stayed like that for a long time; Juri weeping in Haruka's arms, their mother staring down into the crib. Finally, she dropped the blanket back over the twins, and turned her back upon them.

"I…You may have some time. To say goodbye." She said quietly, resolution echoing through her words, before she left the room. As the door closed, Juri lurched forwards to run to the crib with a cry, but even with her vampire abilities, she wasn't quite strong enough, and Haruka held her back.

"I'll…" He coughed to clear his throat. "I'll get them." He stood up from the bed, as Juri shifted herself so she was sitting, but leaning back against her pillows. He followed his mother's footsteps over to the crib, and looked down at his daughters for the first time.

He stared at them for nearly as long as his mother had, before Juri made an impatient noise and he jolted awake. Carefully, he leant over the crib and cradled one of the newborn twins in his hands. Gently, he carried her over to Juri and handed to her. Both twins were naked; there were clothes, but all in preparation for one child… just one. As Juri took her daughter with a soft cooing noise, he went to retrieve the other, joining Juri on her bed with his other daughter in his arms.

"Such beautiful eyes…" Juri breathed, and Haruka looked over. Both girls had dark, slightly curling hair and Juri's china pale skin. The baby who lay, gurgling quietly, in Juri's loving arms had wide, iridescent eyes which made Haruka gasp; they were red. Most vampires' eyes would glow red when they used their powers, or even simply when they were angry, but the red glow faded to a more normal eye colour. Yet this girl's eyes were red; not glowing, but red. Haruka looked down at the daughter he held, and had to suppress another gasp.

"Juri… look." Contrary to her sister, their second daughter had blue eyes. Bright, unearthly blue; just as unusual as her sister's. Juri and Haruka shared a look before turning their gazes back to their twins.

"Haruka, what is that?" Juri asked suddenly, cradling the ruby-eyed twin in the crook of one arm, stroking her collarbone with the other hand. Haruka leaned over to look.

"A… birthmark, I think." He said slowly; vampires did not have birthmarks. They were born unblemished; and they rarely scarred.

"What…?" Haruka looked back to the sapphire-eyed baby and found that she had a birthmark also; in almost exactly the same place. The red-eyed baby had her birthmark on her right collarbone, while the blue-eyed had hers on her left collarbone; a strange, curving shape. Each was like one half of the yin-yang symbol. The birth-marks spanned the entire length of their tiny baby collarbones; a soft shell pink colour.

"Saya." Juri said suddenly, and Haruka met her gaze questioningly. "I want to name them. Saya." She repeated, and Haruka moved to sit next to Juri, careful not to jolt either of his daughters.

"Saya…Mai." He said softly, and Juri smiled and nodded, cradling the infant Saya to her chest.

"My little Saya…Haruka, let me hold her." Juri whispered, opening her tear-filled eyes and holding out her arm for her other daughter. Haruka obliged; gently they swapped. The blue-eyed twin gurgled up almost musically at her mother, and Juri let out a half broken sob.

"She's going to be a singer…" Juri murmured, and Haruka smiled through his tears. "Diva. A little Diva." Juri blinked at him, before laughing slightly.

"We can't call her Diva, the other children would make fun of her."

"Saya would protect her, wouldn't you Saya?" He asked his daughter, and she made a small agreeing noise, as he played along,, both pretending that their fantasy was never to be. "Diva can be her middle name." Juri nodded, looking down at her blue-eyed daughter.

"Natsuki. Summer hope, because even though you were born in the middle of winter, you shine with the warmth of summer; and you give me hope." Juri said softly, as she reached out to stroke Saya's plump baby cheek with one finger. "You both give me hope." She repeated, and Haruka clutched Saya to his chest. Juri looked up. "Let me hold her again." She stated, and once more they swapped. Tears began to fall freely from Juri's eyes, splashing onto Saya's infant face. She looked confused, before she too began to cry; small, thin wails. Natsuki, upon hearing her sister, began to cry also, as Juri leant into Haruka, struggling to control her tears.

"Sshh. Hush, hush…" Juri took a juddering breath, before she shut her eyes and began to sing gently to her crying daughters. Haruka listened; just as comforted as they.

"_Who are those little girls in pain?_

_Just trapped in a castle on the dark side of the moon_

_Two of them shining bright in vain_

_Like flowers that blossom just once in years_

_They're dancing in the shadows like whispers of love_

_Just dreaming of a place where they're free as a dove_

_They've never been allowed to love in this cursed cage_

_It's only the fairytale they believe_

_They're dancing in the shadows like whispers of love_

_Just dreaming of a place where they are free as a dove_

_They've never been allowed to love in this cursed cage…_" Juri stammered to a halt, her sadness preventing her from going any further.

"It's only the fairytale they believe." Haruka finished softly, as both girls dropped off to sleep, safe in their parents arms for the first and last time.

-n/s-

"My Queen. You summoned me?" Nathan knelt, his head bowed respectfully.

"Yes." Nathan looked up, hearing the note of worry and sorrow in his queen's voice.

"Lady Kuran?" He said, standing and taking her hand as the door slammed shut with the wind, sealing the warmth inside once more. His queen looked up, that familiar determination flaring in her eyes.

"Nathan. As you know, my daughter Juri was with child." She pronounced, and Nathan nodded.

"I presume she has given birth?"

"Just now." Lady Kuran nodded, and took a shaky breath. "To two twin daughters." Nathan froze.

"Twins… _female_ twins?" He exclaimed, his grip on his Lady's hand tightening involuntarily. "Oh, Mary." Her gaze dropped. She rarely allowed even her closest family to call her by her first name; that she had allowed Nathan to do so spoke volumes.

"My husband has told me to see to it that they are destroyed." She said, resolute, and Nathan frowned.

"Did you call me here to help?" He asked, a smirk alighting on his face. She glared up at him.

"Don't be a fool. You know I do not need help with such things." She snapped, and his smirk widened.

"Then, why did you call me here?" She frowned at him, still fighting something.

"I don't want to kill them." She whispered quietly, and he bent his head closer to hear her.

"Sorry?"

"You are infuriating, you know that?" She asked, irritated and suddenly sounding much like her daughter. Nathan smiled, and gave a little bow.

"So if you do not want to kill them, what do you need my help doing, exactly?" She smiled grimly; she had known there was a reason she had chosen Nathan to be her most loyal servant, infuriating though he was.

"Take them away. Don't tell anybody. Not even my children. There is…" She paused, and her expression suddenly became nostalgic. "A light in them. Such a special light… They're going to be very special." She said softly. Nathan looked sly, as he dropped her hand and stepped past her.

"Of course they're special. You realise that they could change the world completely?" She turned, glaring at him once more.

"Perhaps for better. We don't know what is going to happen, but even if my husband is not willing to take that chance, I am." She said firmly, and Nathan grinned properly.

"If that is what you wish."

-n/s-

"Haruka! Juri!" Both looked up from their sleeping daughters, their faces tearstained, as their mother and her servant, Nathan, came in.

"Mother?" Juri queried, her voice barely above a whisper. Their mother surveyed them, before motioning Nathan forwards with a jerk of her head. Nathan stepped past his queen and approached the bed.

"Your darling children, if you please." He said coyly, holding out his arms, Juri gasped, and instinctively clutched the sleeping Saya closer to her chest, tears flowing faster down her cheeks. Haruka shut his eyes in pain as he gave Natsuki to Nathan. Nathan cooed at the little sleeping infant before turning to Juri, expectant. Juri looked up at him, but he didn't waver, and she held Saya out.

He noticed that both children were naked underneath their cocoons of blanket, and gleaming golden chains could be seen around both of the babies' necks. Upon closer inspection later, Nathan would find that Saya had a small, round locket, while Diva had the key to said locket, around their necks.

"They have names." Juri choked, and Nathan turned back in surprise. "The one with red eyes is called Saya Mai… Kuran. The other is Natsuki Diva Kuran." She stated, her voice growing stronger even as the tears fell. Nathan gave a little bow, a smile quirking his lips.

"Thank you, Lady Juri. That will be… most helpful." He smiled, before turning and flashing out of the room, just as Juri gasped.

"You BASTARD!" she yelled after him, struggling against Haruka as he tried to keep her in her bed. Their father came in, hearing the cry, before exchanging a look with his wife.

"Is it done?" He asked quietly, and she nodded, just as Juri began to wail; full blown screaming.

"You…" Her parents turned to face their daughter; tearstained, exhausted, her eyes glowing with insane anger. "I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU! Someday, someday you will regret this from the bottom of your hearts." She spat viciously, and her mother's face softened slightly.

"It was the best for them." And then the parents left their children to their own grief.

Haruka and Juri Kuran were married soon after, and they left their parents' household. They did not keep in contact; sometimes running into each other at Soirees. Juri never forgave her parents for what they had done, and many years later at their funeral, neither Juri nor Haruka shed a single tear for their parents. Juri and Haruka could not bring themselves to have more children for many years, and when they finally did their parents were both long dead. Lord and Lady Kuran never got to see their grandchildren.

-n/s-

"Mr Mahler, please come this way." Nathan shot the gesturing butler a suspicious look, and tightened his grip on his bulging coat, before following the directions into a parlour, where Joel Goldschmidt was waiting for him; warming his hands over the flickering flames of the fire. As he stepped into the warmth of the room, the snow steamed and melted from his clothes; quickly creating a puddle on the carpeted floor. Joel's gaze flickered to the steadily expanding pool of water staining his expensive Turkish rug, but he said nothing; his grey eyes returning to his associate's face.

"Mr Mahler, what can I do for you?" He asked genially, after several minutes of Nathan's silence. Nathan blinked, and his eyes suddenly seemed to focus; although they had not exactly been unfocused before.

"Ah, yes..." Nathan smiled, and Joel felt abruptly nervous as the blonde man in front of him reached into his coat. Joel was a vampire, just like Nathan, but such was Nathan's power it made him feel pitifully weak – almost human in comparison. Nathan Mahler was a servant of the pureblood Lady Kuran; normally if he came to visit you only he walked away from the meeting alive.

However, what Nathan pulled from his coat was nothing at all like what Joel had expected; neither weapons nor dreadful torture devices appeared. Instead, Joel found himself gazing at two bundles of cloth. He blinked in surprise, and looked up at Nathan's smirking face in question.

"What...?" He asked, frowning. Nathan's smirk widened.

"They're babies, Joel. I trust you with all of your great science wisdom know of them?" Joel huffed, before sighing in exasperation; it was not only Lady Kuran who found Nathan infuriating.

"Yes, I can see that they're babies, Mr Mahler, but excuse me when I say that you carrying two babies into my home is a little unusual!" He said briskly, trying very hard not to snap; for of course that was exactly the reaction that Nathan was trying to get.

"Well, they've been abandoned. You are to look after them, here." Nathan smiled with genuine glee at the slightly horror struck expression on Joel's face as he handed the children to him. No man wants to suddenly have a family sprung upon them; whether they were planning on having children later in life or not. Joel numbly took the girls, and gazed down at their softly sleeping faces.

"What..." He said forlornly, as one of the infants made a small cooing noise as she shifted in her sleep. Nathan swept over to a table and, picking up a pen, began to write in a flowing script upon a piece of rather expensive parchment; it seemed that where ever Nathan went he had a habit of using and often then destroying expensive items.

"They have names, though... the one with blue eyes is called Natsuki Diva... mmm." Nathan abruptly turned, thoughtful. "They don't have a surname..." He trailed off as Joel stared at him, still in shock.

"What about 'Otonashi'?" He said suddenly; the name coming to him unbidden and springing from his lips on a whim. "I heard it recently; it's Japanese, meaning-"

"Quiet sound." Nathan interrupted with an almost feral smile. "Yes... that will be perfect. Then, Natsuki Diva Otonashi, and the other is named Saya Mai Otonashi. Well, then, I leave you with them. I may return when they're grown to see them." Nathan said, turning and holding out the piece of paper with the girls' names on it, and buttoning up his coat with his free hand.

"Wait!" Joel took a step forwards, before remembering the fragile charges sleeping in his arms and halting, but Nathan had glanced over his shoulder to acknowledge him once more.

"Yes?"

"You're just handing them to me? Without further ado?" He exclaimed, and Nathan turned around to face him properly with another smirk.

"Yes, as you've so eloquently put it; without further ado." Joel stuttered incredulously for a moment, when Nathan suddenly frowned; his irises darkening to a bright red as with a blue flash he was right in Joel's face; his brow low over his eyes.

"You will take care of these children as if they were the most precious thing to you in the world, and you need to know no more than that. Do I make myself clear?" Nathan asked, his head tipping comically to one side as he saw Joel's involuntary gulp of agreement.

"Good." and then Nathan disappeared into the snowy night, leaving Joel in the care of the infants Saya and Natsuki.

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><p><strong>So there it is. More exciting stuff to come, so wait for it! We hope you liked it and please review! XD<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"You're it, you're it!" Joel looked up startled, as two giggling, dark-haired girls ran out from the bushes to his left, the one in the pink dress sprinting ahead of her sister across the lawn before wheeling out of sight around the huge oak tree.

Natsuki looked around, puzzled, as she searched for the flash of pale pink skirts that signified her sister's presence. Her own dress was pale blue, which normally meant that Natsuki was the hard one to spot; she blended in much better, but Saya was clever; she had lead them to the rose garden, where the blooming petals matched the colour of her dress exactly.

Frustrated, Natsuki turned with a swish of her dark hair, her blue eyes narrowed and searching; a small frown creasing her cherubic face. She sighed, her six-year old mind being able to find no better solution than to simply wander around in the hopes of finding her sister; and so Natsuki began to do exactly that; wander.

After a few minutes of this, however, Natsuki was bored. The roses were pretty, but not that interesting, and the game was fast becoming boring in her opinion.

"Sa~ya~" She moaned in a vain attempt to draw her sister out. "I thought we were playing it, not hide and seek! We do not have enough people to play hide and seek anyway!" Natsuki said crossly, coming to a halt in the middle of the path; a blue speck in amongst the blooming pink and green stems.

"BOO!" Natsuki shrieked in surprise as Saya burst out from a bush; rose petals scattered across her tangled hair, jumping out behind her and jolting her. With a cry, Natsuki stumbled and tumbled over, her skirt flying up from her lower shin to bare her knees to the gravel.

Saya's eyes widened in guilty horror, and she hurried forwards to help Natsuki; who had turned over to reveal one scraped knee; her white stocking torn. Big fat tears began to roll down Natsuki's cheeks, and a sob escaped her as Saya knelt.

"Natsuki... are you okay?" She asked tentavely, and Natsuki sniffed, her hands clutched around her bleeding knee.

"Now look what you've done, Saya! My stocking's torn, and it hurts!" Natsuki wailed, and Saya's expression grew pensive.

"I'm really, really sorry, Natsuki... here, look." Saya said, and Natsuki looked up in time to see Saya putting a pink rose in her hair. Natsuki blinked, her pain and tears instantly forgotten.

"What is it?" She asked, curiously reaching up to pat the petals.

"A very pretty rose. See, I've got one too!" Saya exclaimed gleefully, reaching out to pick another rose. "Ouch!" She winced and drew back as the thorns nicked her fingers, drawing beads of bright blood, before she again grasped the stem, this time more carefully, and placed the other rose in her hair so she matched her blue-eyed sister.

Saya stood and held out her hand to Natsuki, and Natsuki took it with a watery smile. The twins stood facing each other for a while, both with pink roses in their long, dark tresses, before Natsuki quickly reached out and tapped Saya on the shoulder.

"You're it!" Natsuki laughed, and sprinted away through the rose garden, Saya hot on her heels.

Later, the maids would wonder why Natsuki's stocking was torn but there was not even a scratch on her knee, and Saya would try to remember where the small drops of blood on the cuff of her dress had come from, although there was no wound.

-n/s-

"Joel, Joel! Saya stole my food again!" Natsuki complained, and Saya blushed under Joel's wearily stern gaze. Saya stealing food was such a regular occurrence by this stage that it was hard for anybody to muster up any anger. Saya swallowed her mouthful, her face pouting in an expression of disarming innocence.

"But, Natsuki wasn't going to eat it, was she?" Saya turned to her sister, her head on one side, gently smiling. Natsuki frowned.

"Yes I was!" She protested.

"No you weren't, you never finish your meal." Saya rebutted, her innocent face vanishing.

"I do!"

"Don't!"

"Do!"

"_Don't!_"

"_Do!_"

"DON'T!"

"DO!"

"Alright girls, that's quite enough!" Joel said gently, and both twins obediently fell silent, shooting each other glares from under their lashes. Joel sighed. "Come on, girls. You're both eight now, please try to act like it. You'll be moving out of the nursery soon." The girls blinked, and exchanged thoughtful glances in such a way that Joel would have sworn they were communicating for the rest of the meal.

Such was his fear of Nathan that he had quickly seen to it to give the twins the highest possible care. He tried not to spoil them too much, but they were sweet, and loved him instantly with an intensity that startled him, and before long he had begun to love them back; appreciating the laughter and light they brought to his home of science; the Zoo.

His associate, Amshel, had never really struck Joel as a child-loving man, and sure enough, Amshel avoided the twins except when forced to interact with them; merely observing their strange traits from afar. For example, they appeared to heal alarmingly quickly even for a vampire; for it had not taken long for Joel to work out that was the species of his two charges. They needed more blood than most adult vampires, which was worrying; almost two litres a day, which they had distributed evenly after every meal. The Zoo had had to increase its stock of slaves just to feed them, and the girls' speed and strength meant a great many things were broken, and a great deal of money was spent on them.

Fortunately, Joel was a rich man, having inherited the fortune of several generations, because the girls' music lessons cost him another small country; they both had a natural talent for both singing and dancing, as well as musical instruments. Natsuki had the voice of an angel, and could play the piano, and Saya played the cello and could dance as if her body was made of rubber. Both twins could dance, both twins could sing, but Saya excelled at dancing, Natsuki at singing.

Unfortunately for Joel, this high standard meant that they could tell when the teacher was good or not; only the highest quality was good enough. He hoped that soon they wouldn't need lessons; he was thinking of suggesting that they teach themselves when they turned nine.

Saya jolted him out of his reverie with a tug on his sleeve; looking up he found that Saya had long finished and Natsuki was quickly scooping up the last morsels of vegetables.

"Joel?"

"Hmm?" He asked, instantly wary of Saya's charming look.

"Can I have some chocolate?" He sighed submissively, and let Saya and Natsuki eagerly lead him into the parlour where he kept his box of Belgian and Swiss chocolates. He thought he'd hidden them, but obviously you couldn't hide food from the twins.

-n/s-

"Come on, drink your medicine!" Saya said impatiently, watching as Natsuki gazed into the goblet of dark red liquid thoughtfully.

"Oh, alright, alright. Don't you ever wonder why we need it? Or what it's made from?" Natsuki asked, downing the glass in one and standing up with a stretch. Saya looked puzzled for a moment, before shrugging as she shifted in her new corset again.

"No, not really. Joel says it's important we take it three times a day, or we'll be very ill, that's all." Natsuki blinked.

"So you haven't thought about it at all, then?" She asked curiously as they left the parlour with chocolates hidden in their sleeves. As they'd grown older, they'd grown more devious; especially Saya when it came to stealing food; twelve years old and she was practically a kleptomaniac for sweet things.

"Nope!" Saya answered cheerfully, and Natsuki giggled.

-n/s-

"NO! We don't want to sleep in separate rooms!" Natsuki yelled, Saya by her side nodding vehemently; both their thirteen year old faces flushed with anger. Joel was at loss; and simply tried his plea again.

"But Natsuki, Saya, you're both thirteen now. You should have moved out of the nursery a long time ago-"

"Well, we don't care!" Saya snapped. Joel, frowned, and both girls felt guilty at the anger in his face.

"Well, you're going to sleep in separate rooms from now on, no arguments!" He shouted, before Natsuki and Saya both burst into tears and fled, hand in hand.

Joel sighed and collapsed into an armchair. The twins had been sleeping in the same bed for nearly twelve years. They had originally been put to bed in the same cot simply because they slept better together, and Joel hadn't thought to correct it until the time came for the two to move out from the nursery.

"I take it that did not go well." Amshel said, and Joel jumped, before sighing and running his hands through his greying hair.

"Amshel, I didn't hear you come in. No, that did not go well."

"You could try them in separate beds at first, and then gently ease them into their own rooms? Or maybe that wouldn't work..." Amshel suggested with a shrug, seating himself. Joel opened his eyes, looking interested.

"No, no… that might actually work…" He shot a wary glance at the closed door the twins had run through. "I'll tackle that… later." He said with another sigh, before accepting the glass of whisky Amshel offered him.

-in the nursery-

"I don't want to separate from you, Saya." Natsuki murmured as the girls held each other. She could feel her sister's simmering anger at Joel for suddenly springing this upon them with no warning.

"I won't let him! We'll stay together forever!" Saya said firmly, drawing back and looking her sister in the eye. Natsuki nodded, encouraged by Saya's determination. However, it did not last long, and soon Natsuki's face fell once more.

"He's not going to let us, is he?" She said resolutely; quiet. "We're growing up." Saya, subdued, sat back so both girls were sitting on their shared bed, side by side, in matching lilac dresses with white sashes. Natsuki took a deep breath, and Saya looked up; recognising the sound of her sister preparing to sing, and getting ready herself to join in.

"**The promise that the two of us will always dance together**

**Is turned into a lie by our growing bosom**

**With our dark hair reflected in the mirror**

**We take turns combing for each other**." Saya, picking up on the song the way only she and Natsuki could, joined in.

"We used to be rocked in the same crib

The two of us were always connected by our joined hands,"

"_Now we barely recognise the face reflected_

_Even though we are each other's mirror_

_If what we see is the truth then we'll shatter that reflection_

_Tearing down our toy castle and throwing out our teddies_

_Our creaking bones are the bell announcing the end_

_To the fairytales we dreamed,_" They sang together, their voices swelling and weaving in and out and around the house; reaching Joel and Amshel's ears, where their guardian listened in silence.

"In the distorted mirror, with our hands folded,

Our fingers are the same, but somehow bigger

Things that used to tower are now

Knocked over easily,"

"**From now on, will we sleep in separate rooms?**

**You whisper to me 'goodnight'**

**As you turn the doorknob and go to leave**

**I can't stand the sound and reach for you,**"

"I kiss your extended fingertips, and suddenly I can't bear it

I can't leave and be alone,"

"**If I'm sleeping alone tonight, then don't switch off my light**

**Without you everything is terrifying; even the night,**"

"Telling me you're scared of ghosts,

You're such a baby, my little sister

But your watering eyes are somehow

Telling me what you cannot say,"

"_Our private time, unknown to our guardians_

_Is it finally over? It seems like a dream_

_I can feel you bare inches away_

_I can't let you leave anymore,_"

"**As we silently lock the door,**

**We were searching for answers in each other's eyes,**"

"I erase my childish excuses together with the light

If I can no longer play with your hair then I will also lie,"

"_It's as if time has stopped as we embrace_

_And try to synchronize our heartbeats_**,**

_With your hugging warmth and gentle breathing_

_We won't be apart; we'll be forever together."_

(**Natsuki, **Saya, _Both_)

-n/s-

Many years after the girls had been persuaded, with many promises of sweets and music and songs and presents, to sleep in separate beds, they had flat out refused to move into separate rooms like Joel had hoped. So insistent were they that he eventually gave up.

More years passed, and Joel observed that neither of his charges had really aged since they were about sixteen years of age. Amshel noted this with glee, and tried to persuade Joel that the twins were not usual vampires; most vampires' aging process would slow to a minute level when they stopped growing; yet the twins still bore the appearance of adolescents.

However, Joel was an old vampire by this point, and he did not care; he was sentimental. He loved his daughters, but he was a scientist. Every observation, every detail of his life with the remarkable girls was meticulously recorded in a huge, leather bound book.

The day Amshel returned from a neighbouring town with Hagi, the sun shone as if everyone should be dancing and frolicking under its cheerful beams. Quite a different mood was represented by the sullen Hagi, and then by the angry Joel when he realised why Amshel had bought Hagi.

The young boy stood, silent but angrily defiant somehow, as Joel and Amshel argued about him. He had no say in such matters.

"For the last time, Amshel, he is a young boy! He is far too young for that kind of thing anyway!" Joel snapped, while Amshel's eyes narrowed. Amshel had not visibly aged since the twin's arrival, but he was a higher-class vampire; nowhere near as high as Nathan, but higher than Joel. He would live longer, age slower; it was a wonder he worked 'for' Joel at all.

"But the girls need to get to know him, first. I merely allowed for that timeframe! Besides, what does age mean among our kind?" Amshel retorted, and Hagi's ears pricked up at the phrase; as if Amshel and Joel weren't human. But Hagi did not learn what Amshel meant by this until many years later.

Amshel won the fight, with Joel grumpily admitting that he supposed the boy could be the twin's servant, if nothing else, and Amshel bowed to hide his smile of triumph.

-n/s-

"They young mistresses are this way, boy." The housekeeper, a haughty woman by the name of Miss Lee, sniffed, as she led Hagi down a long, carpeted and grand corridor. Hagi would soon get used to being called 'boy' a trend set by Miss Lee and picked up by everyone else; except for Natsuki and Saya.

Soon, Miss Lee, with Hagi in tow, arrived at a great oak door, completely unremarkable when compared to the other doors lining the hallway, but for the faint sound of music; a cello and a piano, could be heard from behind the thick wood.

Hagi cocked his head to listen, earning himself a disapproving glance from Miss Lee as she raised her bony hand to rap on the door with more strength than one would have thought possible.

The music tinkered of to a halt; the cello stopping completely while the player of the piano continued to delicately play with the keys almost absentmindedly.

"Yes?" Came a voice; female, light and lilting; upper class. Hagi felt apprehensive as Miss Lee opened the door and revealed his two mistresses. He saw two girls, obviously twins, with the same dark hair, pale skin and cherubically shaped faces. One was sitting on a chair, a beautiful cello resting on her knees, her bow held in her hand by her side. That one had eyes that were in reality red, but Hagi's mind told him that they were red-brown. She wore a pink and white dress, with crimson ruby earrings flashing in her ears, a matching necklace hanging around her neck, along with a golden chain holding a small locket with a tiny keyhole. Her dark hair hung to her mid back, the foreparts clipped back with a silver barrette.

The other girl stood up from the piano stool; claiming Hagi's attention as he drank her in too; dressed similarly to her sister only in pale blue and white; amethyst was the stone that adorned her jewellery, along with a tiny golden key that presumably unlocked her twin's locket. Her eyes were the clearest blue Hagi had ever seen; and her longer hair hung loose; a blue bow lying on top of the grand piano suggested it had been tied up but loosened for music. Miss Lee cleared her throat, breaking Hagi out from his reverie, and he immediately averted his eyes.

"Young mistresses, this boy here is to be your new servant." She said without further ado. Two pairs of curious eyes flashed to Hagi's face, and he blushed. "Boy, may I present Lady Natsuki," The blue twin bobbed a little curtsey, still curiously gazing at Hagi. "And Lady Saya." She said. The other girl, unable to curtsey, nodded her head in greeting. "Well, if that's all, then I shall leave you to it. Boy, see that you behave." She said severely, before with a respectful curtsey to the young ladies, she left, shutting the door softly with a click behind her.

There was a small silence in which not one of the three in the room moved, before Natsuki sat down again, exchanging a glance with Saya.

"Well, what's your name?" Saya asked, laying her bow aside. Hagi looked up, startled, and grateful that it appeared that they weren't going to refer to him as 'boy'.

"H-Hagi, miss." He stammered, and Natsuki giggled softly.

"Hey, Hagi, do you want to hear a song? We've been working on it for nearly a month now; it's the first song we've completely written by ourselves together." Natsuki said, covering up her laughter. Saya smiled at Hagi, and his nerves calmed as he was instructed to go and sit on a chair by the side of the room.

Without looking at each other, the twins began to play in perfect harmony; their song swelling and soaring with the love with which they had written it.

"_Though sometimes we are apart_

_Even so we are the two sides_

_Of our star sign reigning in the heavens_

_An empty afternoon,_

_A night that's wistful too_

_Up in the sky, we Gemini are always together,_"

"Very early one morning,

I happened to wake up

Because of a terrifying dream

I was alone and trembling then

I called out for someone

To please help me,"

"**A sorrow as if the sky had fallen,**"

"It's sounding from the depths of my heart,"

"**The warm rhythms will melt away those cold fears,**"

"Embrace them so they won't vanish,"

"**When you have lost your way,**

**And cannot find the path**

**At those times close your eyes and feel our heartbeat**

**Crispy freezing mornings**

**And long cool evenings **

**By this sound we are always connected,**"

"**Because I am always following you**

**When I look back I feel quite alone**

**We've come so far**

**One night I felt I would disappear**

**I called out for someone**

**To please answer me,**"

"A sorrow as if the sea had dried away,"

"**I have always heard it from the depths of my heart,**"

"The familiar rhythms that banish loneliness,"

"**Catch them so they won't vanish,**"

"Hey, you mustn't cry

Even when you feel alone

At those times close your eyes and listen to our breathing

When it rains without end

When it seems dawn will not arrive

By this sound we are always connected,"

"**When you have lost your way,**

**And cannot find the path**

**At those times close your eyes and feel our heartbeat**

**Crispy freezing mornings**

**And long cool evenings **

**By this sound we are always connected,**"

"_Do you remember when?_

_That bird, burdened with a hopeless love_

_Struggling through today for an uncertain tomorrow_

_Such a small presence, it could almost fade away_

_That bird came here, and rested its wings_

_It cleared its head and we healed its heart, so_

_When the tears have stopped falling, let's sing a beautiful song for everyone,_"

"Hey, you mustn't cry

Even when you feel alone

At those times close your eyes and listen to our breathing

When it rains without end

When it seems dawn will not arrive

By this sound we are always connected,"

"_Though sometimes we are apart_

_Even so we are the two sides_

_Of our star sign reigning in the heavens_

_An empty afternoon,_

_A night that's wistful too_

_Up in the sky, we Gemini are always together,_"

"We Gemini are always together,"

"**We Gemini are always together.**"

(**Natsuki, **Saya, _Both_)

"Well, what did you think?" Saya demanded, once again laying her bow down, as Hagi blinked.

"It… was beautiful." He said softly, and Natsuki and Saya exchanged a pleased glance, before putting away their music and instruments.

"Hey, Hagi. Do you know how to play hide and seek?" Natsuki asked, as he hurriedly stood.

"Um… yes." He answered, confused. Natsuki clasped her hands together in delight, as Saya finished packing away her cello in its case; a long, oblong shape that reminded people of a coffin, decorated with silver effigies.

"Great! We've never had enough people for hide and seek, you see." Natsuki exclaimed, turning to Saya, who was beaming in return.

"Hagi, you count, and we'll go and hide!" She exclaimed, both Natsuki and Saya leaving the room in a flurry of skirts. Hagi stared after them for a while, before with a small sigh, he put his hands over his eyes and began to count.

"One… Two… Three…"

-n/s-

"Hey, Saya, Natsuki! Look!" Hagi exclaimed, getting to his feet and cautiously approaching the herd of sheep that had wandered down to the creek to drink. Saya and Natsuki, still seated on the bank, watched with envy as Hagi was soon surrounded by the flock; a few of the sheep approaching him to nuzzle his face affectionately.

"Hey, Saya, come over!" He exclaimed, beaming at his two mistresses. Saya and Natsuki exchanged a glance, before they both got to their feet and warily approached the sheep. A look of intense concentration on her face, Saya reached out a hand to tough the head of the sheep nearest to her. Her hand came within an inch of its coiled, wiry wool, before abruptly, the herd scattered and fled, bleating.

Saya straightened with a look of resigned disappointment on her face, Natsuki not far behind her. Hagi looked after the herd, shocked.

"Why did they…?" Saya smiled softly, as Natsuki returned to the bank to sit down.

"Animals don't like us much." She answered, following his gaze to stare at the retreating sheep. Hagi watched the far away expression on her face, before it suddenly began to rain.

Natsuki gave a cry, and leapt up from the grass as the other two turned to face her.

"Quick!" She shouted, beckoning them to follow as she picked up her skirts and ran through the bushes. Saya and Hagi exchanged a look, before hurrying after her.

When they finally arrived at their destination, they were completely soaked through, as Natsuki began to wring her hair out onto the muddy floor of the the barn that Natsuki had chosen for their shelter.

Saya did likewise, while Hagi stripped off his jacket only to find his shirt was so wet it was see through.

"Ugh. Help me with this, won't you?" Saya asked Natsuki, gesturing to the back of her dress. Hagi hurriedly turned away from the pair, blushing, as they began to help each other get rid of their wet garments.

A few moments later, after wrestling Hagi from his own sopping clothes, they all lay side by side on the hay in their underwear; Hagi in shorts with a blush still lingering on his face as his damp wavy hair, still tied back in his usual plait, began to curl even more as it dried, Saya and Natsuki in their corsets and shifts, their earrings gleaming as their own hair curled with the damp.

Suddenly, Saya sat up, her hair catching on random pieces of hay and bringing them up with her curls.

"Hey, isn't this funny?" She asked, smiling, as Hagi and Natsuki laughed at her hair.

-n/s-

Hagi watched, awed, as Saya skilfully fenced her way past a man who had claimed to be one of the most skilled swordsmen of their time, a tray of refreshments almost completely forgotten in his hands.

With a quick flash, Saya disarmed the man and removed her protective mask; with a grin, the man, whose name Hagi couldn't remember, surrendered.

"You're amazing, Saya!" Hagi exclaimed gleefully, placing the tray down on the table. Saya flashed him a beautiful smile.

"Thank you! It's my dream to travel the world with Natsuki, singing and dancing, with my sword in my hand!" She said, pointing her foil to the blue sky. Natsuki laughed softly from behind Hagi, announcing her presence.

"What's your dream, Natsuki?" he asked curiously; noting her pensive expression.

"Only to sing, and be with her always." Natsuki murmured softly; only for Hagi's hearing. She smiled at him. "My sister, she's quite remarkable, _non_?"

-n/s-

"Haha!" Natsuki laughed, as Hagi stopped rowing to give himself a rest. He shot her gently grumpy look.

"I'm not a professional rower, Mistress Natsuki." He said mildly, and Saya burst out laughing as Natsuki's face creased into an unhappy frown.

"Don't! You know I _hate_ it when people call me 'Mistress'!" She exclaimed, and both Saya and Hagi laughed. Wryly, she shook her head, before turning to trail her hand in the water; pretending that she was ignoring them.

"Oh, come on Natsuki, you know we didn't mean any harm by it-!" Saya gave a surprised gasp as she stood and the boat rocked alarmingly.

"Saya!" Hagi exclaimed, and Natsuki turned to find him holding her sister in his arms, keeping her from falling as they waited for the boat to stop rocking. Saya blushed instantly, as Hagi looked down at the top of her head.

"Saya, are you alright?" He asked gently. Neither moved from the embrace; and neither seemed to remember that Natsuki was even still there.

"I… I can hear your heartbeat…" Saya whispered, and a pink tinge spread across Hagi's cheeks. Natsuki blushed herself, and turned away from the intimate moment.

-n/s-

"No, no, no!" Saya exclaimed, slapping his hands away from the neck of her beloved cello. "You need to play the pauses!" She instructed, as Natsuki ground to a halt on the piano and giggled at the pensive expression on Hagi's face.

"Play the _pauses_?" He asked, laying his bow down as his brow scrunched. Saya had taken it upon herself to teach him the cello, and though she didn't like to admit it after nearly ten years of lessons he was nearly better than she was. "But they're silence, how can I play them?" He asked. Nearly better than she was. Nearly.

"You idiot, Hagi, they're still part of the music, so of course you can play them." She said, shaking her head in exasperation. Natsuki swallowed another giggle as Saya commanded they begin the piece again, before slipping out of the room. The other two were so preoccupied that they didn't notice her leaving, and she noted this with some sadness.

Since the boat trip out to the middle of the lake, Hagi and Saya had become even closer. The three had always been inseparable, but recently Natsuki had been feeling a little left out. Of course, she was happy that her sister and Hagi were making progress in their relationship, and she wasn't jealous; she had never liked Hagi in quite that way. But it was something that she and her sister couldn't share; and that made Natsuki sad.

With a sigh, she told herself off for thinking such self-absorbed thoughts.

"Don't be silly, Natsuki, she's still your twin. Just because Hagi's moving in doesn't mean that she's never going to see you again." She told herself crossly, ignoring the disturbed look she got from a pageboy as she exited the mansion, and began to wander the grounds, not thinking about anything but the enjoyment of being outside.

She didn't even notice when the grass beneath her feet changed to old, yellow paving; only when she tripped over a loose slab did she notice where she was.

She and Saya had explored every inch of the grounds, or so they had thought, but neither of them had ever been here; a courtyard, with a tall, ivy covered tower. Giving a small gasp, Natsuki began to venture further into the place; her curious nature soon banishing any misgivings about the place.

"Blue… roses." She breathed, catching sight of the striking flowers and hurrying over. "They're beautiful!" She exclaimed happily, carefully cupping one to smell.

"Aren't they?" Shocked, Natsuki whirled around to face the person who had spoken.

"Amshel!" She gasped, as he smiled at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were here." She said softly, bowing her head.

"No, no. I did not mean to startle you, Miss Natsuki." Natsuki blinked. She had never been referred to as 'Miss' before. 'Mistress', 'Lady' and once even 'Master', but never 'Miss'.

"Where is this place?" She asked quickly, hoping to distract herself from the strange feeling spreading through her veins.

"This place?" Amshel repeated, turning to gaze up at the tower. "This place… I like to call it 'Diva's Tower'." He said. Natsuki frowned.

"Diva? Like my middle name?" She asked, and he turned to flash her a grin that made her feel abruptly uncomfortable.

"Indeed. Like your middle name, Miss Natsuki." He answered, turning his eyes back to the tower, much to Natsuki's relief. "Simply because I have always thought it would be a wonderful place to sing in." He smiled at her once more, before turning on his heel and vanishing back towards the house. Natsuki gazed after him, disturbed, before deciding she had had enough of the strange, eerie tower.

-n/s-

However, the pull of 'Diva's Tower' brought Natsuki back again and again. She had brought back some blue roses for Saya, but they were her special thing. She didn't tell her twin where she had found them; but showed her one afternoon.

Saya took an instant dislike to the tower, and vowed never to come back. For Natsuki, on the other hand, the tower held a certain appeal to her that she could not place; it mesmerised her, and she frequently visited it to sing. Sometimes she saw Amshel listening, amongst the blue roses she now tended, but she didn't care; simply singing a song made up of word she barely understood; fragments of Italian snatched here and there from the guests Joel invited to his home.

It was a beautiful song, and Saya delighted in hearing it, for as always Natsuki sang for her twin, and Saya did likewise. They always sang and danced for each other, with only once exception; they had nothing to give Joel for his upcoming birthday, and the gift of song was all they had. The night of his 72nd birthday was mere days away; and Saya and Natsuki were preparing a special song for him. It would be the first time they had sung for anyone other than each other; others had listened to them sing before, but the songs had never been dedicated to anyone else.

-n/s-

Saya let out a sigh as Natsuki fastened her hair up in a elegant coiffure.

"What's wrong, Saya?" Natsuki asked, sitting down on the stool beside her in front of the dressing table; their identical faces reflected in the mirror. Both girls had their long dark hair swept up for the first time; revealing their earrings; Saya's ruby, Natsuki's sapphire. They wore matching necklaces over their respective locket and key; which had never been removed. They had never opened the locket, although they knew that Natsuki's key fit, because they were too afraid; afraid of what it might tell them.

Natsuki was clothed in a deep blue gown with delicate crystal beading along the bodice, a hint of white lace and ruffles. Saya's dress was identical in every way; only a deep crimson colour, bringing out the red of her eyes perfectly.

"Hey, Saya?" Natsuki said softly, after a few moments of silent reflection.

"Yes?"

"Do you feel it too?" She asked, turning to look into her twin's eyes. Saya's mouth parted in faint surprise.

"Yes." She whispered, taking Natsuki's hand and squeezing it. "A horrible feeling of dread. I feel as if something terrible is going to happen tonight." Natsuki squeezed Saya's hand in return.

"I… feel the same. It's as if I'm never going to see you again… it's horrible." She murmured vehemently.

"Well, it wouldn't matter." Saya said, and Natsuki stared at her, horror-struck.

"What? It wouldn't _matter_?" She exclaimed, trying to tug her hand from Saya's in outrage.

"No. Because we can always find each other." Saya answered, and Natsuki relaxed. "We're mirror images. We can never lose each other; we can never be kept apart." Saya repeated, and Natsuki enveloped her in a sudden hug, but the feeling of dread intensified.

"**In a quiet, quiet place deep inside the forest**

**We were young and small**

**Reflected in the faintly glimmering old mirror…**" Natsuki's singing did not take Saya by surprise, as it might with someone else. Saya simply listened, waiting for the tune to instinctively come to her.

"**Your place in that world**

**Has the same scenery as mine**

**Your place has the same sky**

**But I'm not there,**" Saya opened her eyes, and joined in;

"In the same place, from opposite sides

Of this mirror that divides us, we sing,"

"**Please send it**,(Please send it)

**This song will reach you**

**Let me listen** (Let me listen)

**To your melody,**

**Someday **(Someday)**I believe it'll reach you**

**That's why I'm still singing now…**"

"I don't believe in forever or eternity

I hope that someday (**Someday**) the mirror will breaks

So that I (**So that I**) Will meet you

That's why I still sing and believe…"

"Your place in that world

It always has the same scenery as mine

In your place, your weary eyes grow sad

The mirror that divides us,

Our songs don't reach and disappear,"

"**I don't believe in forever or eternity**

**I heard it; your voice**

**Only a memory of a faraway place**

**But I believe that someday (**Someday**)it'll reach you**

**Will I always be able to believe and sing?"**

"_To you (To you)_

_This melody_

_Receive it, send it_

_Before it disappears_

_We sing on, believing that someday (Someday) it'll reach the other_

_How long can we sing?_"

"Always (**Always**) inside sound

I hear your faint melody

Someday, someday, we dreamt for this

The mirror is broken…."

(**Natsuki, **Saya, _Both_)

The sisters clutched each other closer, before they were forced to leave the relative safety and join the party.

-n/s-

"And may I present the two lovely ladies of the house, Lady Natsuki and Lady Saya Otonashi!" He was a brash man, the man Amshel had found to present all of the various acts that people were presenting in honour of Joel's birthday, and neither Saya nor Natsuki liked him one little bit.

However, they kept their dislike off their faces; and wore only charming beams as they took to the stage, heralded by enthusiastic applause. The legend of the girls' music had spread, but the people who had actually heard them were far and few between.

Ignoring the gasps of admiration and murmurs, Saya seated herself, her cello between her knees, as Natsuki sat at the piano. Their instruments had been tuned bare seconds before, behind the stage with the help of Hagi, so they simply readied themselves to play. Hagi had slipped to the front of the crowd, but such was the twins' concentration that neither noticed him, and then they began.

"Against a canvas of dusk, I see a wine red sunset

Setting, on my way home

I wonder if your heart is already painted with my feelings,"

"**This evening we have plenty of time**

**I just want to spend all o fit with you**

**Let's relax; take a deep breath and watch closely**

**It's going to start," **

"_Miracle paint, a miracle show time_

_We'll put you in a trance with a magical brush stroke_

_I'll give my all to paint everyone in your special colour,_"

"In my favourite dress,

I'm basking in the starry sky's limelight with pride

You helped me here; dancing on my tiptoes

Meeting your proud gaze, I feel so happy!"

"**This evening is going to be more wonderful than ever**

**With my blue eyes, I can see where to paint**

**Embrace each other tightly, as we pile up layers of love**

**We're going to create a wonderful masterpiece!**"

"_Miracle painting, miracle love_

_I'll put that love into this magical brush stroke_

_All of it is just for you on this special night,_"

"_On this night with you, maybe we can try to count our countless dreams_

_But these overflowing feelings,_

_I can't count them, can't convey them_

_Can't tell them, there are too many,_"

"_That's why this is far from over; our painting's barely begun,_"

"_Miracle painting, a miracle show time_

_These magical brush strokes have already entranced you_

_And now we'll paint you in our very own special colour,_"

"_Please don't end it yet, the miracle painting_

_A technique of captivation_

_But we're still applying the finishing touches, so wait_

_Then we'll tell you, from the bottom of our hearts…_"

"_We love you!_"

(**Natsuki, **Saya, _Both_)

The songfinished with a standing ovation; the twins' reputation was not undeserved. The song was light, bubbly; it instinctively made you smile without thinking; bob your head in time with the lyrics. It was childish, really; that was how fun-filled and upbeat it was, but it somehow seemed so _right_ in that moment.

Saya caught Hagi's eye with a pleased blush as the applause continued; the guests standing, while Joel clapped along with them, beaming in pride. Natsuki couldn't help but search for Amshel; ever since her first proper interaction with him by 'Diva's Tower' she had been fascinated by his strange demeanour, but she couldn't see him, instead reaching out to take her sister's hand as they curtseyed in unison.

The clapping and cheering was so loud that the screaming did not become apparent for several minutes after it must have started.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, here you go, chapter two! Hope you enjoyed!<strong>

**The songs, in order of appearance, are 'Adolescence' by Kagamine Rin and Len (Vocaloid), 'Gemini' by Kagamine Rin and Len (Vocaloid), 'In a Place Without You' by Kagamine Rin and Len (Vocaloid) and 'Miracle Paint' by Miku Hatsune (Vocaloid). All of these songs are available on youtube.**

**I wrote the english lyrics using the translations from Animelyrics, and for the most part I believe them to be entirely acurate, though I obviously made a few tweaks here and there to fit the storyline. The songs are to be interpreted as the reader likes, but please note that none of the songs used in this particular chapter are meant to be sexual in any way.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed, and thanks again to everybody who reviewed! Please review if you liked (or didn't like, even)! XD**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Loud though the cheering was, it did not take long for the screaming to spread through the crowd along with its cause; people. Saya and Diva, on their feet instantly, could not believe their eyes.

There were people; normal people, their sloppy clothing the only thing marking them as different, tearing and pulling and biting and killing with their bare hands.

Two leapt onto the stage, and immediately it was obvious that these 'people' were not normal. Slobbering and salivating to the point that they looked like wolves, their teeth were sharp and deadly; their faces contorted into grotesque shapes. Natsuki screamed as they approached, and Saya looked around for a weapon. She did not know what or who these things were, but that they were delusional and needed to be fought against was, to Saya, quite clear.

Grabbing the chair she had minutes previously been sitting on, Saya dove in front of the frozen Natsuki, the back of the chair hitting the monster full in the face with a crunch. Panting with the sudden, unexpected movement, Saya glanced back over her shoulder at Natsuki; who was white and shaking, a hater of violence of any kind.

"Are you okay?" She asked, swinging the chair again just in time to batter another one away. Natsuki took a shuddering breath, swallowing as she tried to focus past her fear; unable to speak, she nodded.

"I need to find Hagi!" Saya yelled to her sister over the noise of people screaming and the monsters growling, mixed in with the splash of blood and guts hitting the floor with sickening splashes. Natsuki nodded again, before her eyes suddenly widened.

"Wait! Saya, what about Joel?" Saya paused, torn, before a decision appeared in her eyes.

"You go and find Joel; I'll get Hagi and join you." Natsuki could only nod again as Saya gave her a grim smile and disappeared into the heaving crowd. She stared after her twin helplessly for a moment, before taking a deep breath and herself diving into the mass of people.

Ducking, weaving, elbowing, turning, pushing people both dead and alive and sometimes even merely random body parts with no owner, Natsuki focused on one thing; finding Joel. Unable to see him, she simply headed for where she had last seen him; in the place of honour, raised above the crowd on a small platform so he had the best view. She headed there now, and when she finally reached it she was covered in so much blood and gore that she didn't want to think about it; instead pulling herself up onto the stage and surveying the surrounding area anxiously.

Natsuki cast her head from side to side, reluctantly scanning the massacre that was taking place for her guardian; trying to look past the blood and limbs to the people behind them. She couldn't see Joel anywhere, as her eyes flickered faster and faster past the faces of the dead and dying and the flickering flames; at some point, a fire must have started. In desperation, she raised her gaze to try and see the dusky grounds outside the flicker of light; to try and see the people who had escaped.

For some time the only people she could see were dead, lifeless bodies and the odd hysterical lady, soon torn down by the monsters. Finally though, she caught a glimpse of a vaguely familiar person through the haze of the smoke.

"Amshel!" Natsuki narrowed her eyes, straining to see if it really was the mysterious man she had been so fascinated by recently, and sure enough, it was; that prune suit was unmistakable. "He might know where Joel is!" Natsuki exclaimed aloud, before her briefly newfound joy was immediately squashed at the thought of having to go through the slaughter once more. It was a miracle she had got through it relatively unscathed the first time; Natsuki was not exactly willing to try her luck a second.

Glancing around once more and blocking her ears to the noise behind her; where the sound of the flames flickering and burning, of people eating and biting and drinking was slowly overtaking the sounds of life. A slight breeze wafted across the air; bringing with it the terrible stench of burning flesh.

With a cry, Natsuki clasped her hands to her nose and mouth, trying not to inhale the smoke, as she wheeled around; seeking cleaner air. She leapt off the stage, not aware that the impact of landing could well have broken a human's legs, and found to her relief that the air was cleaner, and also rid of monsters. Scanning the landscape, she found that nobody had been standing behind the stage; none of those creatures had stumbled here yet.

Using this to her advantage, she began to run; far enough that she could avoid the hazy air and bloody smells, and hurried after Amshel.

-n/s-

Hagi was not _completely_ defenceless, though Saya would certainly tell you otherwise. While it was true that his skill did not even come close to matching her own and he was far from gifted in battle, these beasts were not intelligent life forms by any stretch of the imagination. As Hagi battered another away with a gentleman's walking stick he had found, he supposed that you wouldn't really need any kind of tactic nor training to engage these things in a fight; they were clumsy, sloppy and predictable.

However, their fighting ability was not the problem. The problem was that they just kept coming; they didn't stop even with limbs hacked off by some of the wealthier gentlemen wielding swords, they simply kept surging forwards.

When the things had invaded the crowd, Hagi had found himself in a tightly knit group of people; all of them fighting off the beasts as they strained to get through. What they wanted was not entirely clear other than to kill; but with so many it wasn't long before an old man; plump off riches and laziness, was snatched by one of them; vaguely resembling a young girl, her features and hair had long since been twisted into a moving corpse, as far as Hagi could tell. Then they all saw what they really wanted to do with those sharp teeth of theirs; drink.

Drink blood. Drink the blood of their victims, or more appropriately, _drain_. At any other time people would have frozen, Hagi included, at the realisation as the name sprang to their minds; _vampire_. But the instinct to live, to survive, was at that moment overpowering and nobody had much time to consider it at all; simply keep hacking away to try and avoid you own throat being ripped out.

Of course, it was just when it appeared that they were easing off to attack other victims and Hagi thought it was going well that it abruptly took a rather large turn for the worse. At full speed.

A particularly ugly thing, which had wiry strands sticking up from his head that may have been hair sometime in the very distant past, lunged forwards just as Hagi finished a well timed swing at another beast. The other thing managed to get its clawed hands into Hagi's shoulders, digging in as his blood spurted with a cry from him, and then he dropped the walking stick in shock, leaving him defenceless, hooked by a blood-sucking monster that barely even resembled a human.

Eyes wide, he stared into the eyes of the thing, and saw nothing. Nothing but desire. And that was the moment that Hagi knew he was going to die. But he couldn't close his eyes; couldn't tear his gaze away from the empty dark pools of dark red _want_.

And then a massive black and silver coffin-like cello case came swooping out of nowhere and thwacked straight through the thing's head; shattering it right off and spraying Hagi with blood and god knows what else. Hagi blinked the gunk out of his eyes, his lungs suddenly deciding to work as he began to pant with shock.

"Hagi! Are you okay?" Saya yelled, her eyes shining with fierce determination as she wacked another beast through the stomach and sent it flying.

"Saya…" He murmured as she turned to face him; covered in blood. Her dark hair had slipped from its style slightly; red tinted strands hanging about her face, which was also splattered with crimson. Only the subtle differences in colour marked her dress as blood stained too, and the heavy cello case was also stained with red; signifying just how many of these creatures she had ruthlessly fought through to get to him. Her eyes were glowing, Hagi was quite certain of this, and he knew that that was not normal or natural and in actual fact was really quite scary, but he still thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"Hagi, we need to find Joel and Natsuki!" She shouted to him over the hubbub, holding out a blood spattered hand to him. Still gazing at her, his mouth parted slightly, he numbly grasped it.

"I thought Natsuki was with you?" He asked suddenly, frowning, as Saya turned and began using the cello case as a battering ram to clear their path.

"She went to find Joel!" Saya answered as they ran through the mass of people, Hagi frowning as he processed this.

"But Joel's there!" He said, running so that he was by her side and pointing. Saya's face tightened with worry, but grimly she ducked her head and began making her way towards her guardian, who was surrounded by a few particularly loyal servants and men who had happened to be near him at the time. They had obviously made to go towards the house, only to be surrounded by fire and monsters alike.

"JOEL!" Saya shrieked; spotting from her vantage point the beast that had broken through her guardian's defence; it's clawed hand arcing towards Joel's suddenly all too soft chest.

Saya was fast, but even she was not fast enough. Even as she got there and ruthlessly decapitated the beast, and then attacked its stump of a body in fury, Joel staggered backwards, bleeding copiously from five ragged wounds in his chest.

Hagi, not being as fast a runner as Saya even with his longer legs, arrived just as Saya dumped the cello case on the ground, leaning over Joel anxiously.

Joel coughed, and a splatter of blood trickled down his chin. Tears began to trail from Saya's eyes; she was far from a medical expert, but even she could tell that in this mayhem Joel was going to die. There was no way of getting him the required medical application to save his life. Joel raised his hand to try and caress Saya's face; where tears were fast mingling with the blood.

"Saya… Where's Natsuki?" he breathed, before giving another cough. Hagi slowly knelt by Saya's side; Joel had been a kind master to him over the years, but even had he been a cruel one Hagi did not think he could have wished this kind of death on anyone; the eve of your birthday, killed among your party guests by beasts.

"She's safe." Saya whispered brokenly, the lie slipping easily from her lips so as to comfort Joel, and he seemed to relax minutely before his face began to work again.

"Saya… forgive me. I truly did love you…." He broke off to cough again, his breath hitching as his waistcoat was dyed red at an alarming pace. "But… I am sorry… for keeping… so much." Joel breathed out, and Hagi thought that maybe at last the man would get to rest from the terrible pain that was carving out his features, but it seemed he had not finished. "My… Diary. It will tell you… everything. I'm sorry…" Joel choked, and then his face relaxed; the release clear to see and marking his body as one of the dead.

_Joel Goldschmidt I died on the eve of his 72__nd__ Birthday, in an event that came to be known as the 'Bordeaux Sunday' in 1883._

Saya gave a thin wail of distress, her fists clenching on Joel's blood stained jacket as her tears bathed her cheeks free of blood. Hagi, his own face creased with raw grief, gently leant over and closed Joel's eyes. For a moment, it was a suspended bubble in time; a time for grieving without any interference from the losing battle going on around them.

That bubble was shattered when a clawed hand suddenly appeared through Hagi's chest; both Saya and Hagi gazed at it, eyes wide, for what seemed like several moments before the claw withdrew with a spurt of blood which splattered afresh Saya's shocked face.

"HAGI!" She screamed, lurching forwards as if somehow she could help him even as he fell, dying in much the same way that Joel had only seconds previously. She stumbled as a hole was torn through her abdomen, before collapsing onto Hagi's injured chest, the blood from their wounds mingling as her mind dove into the welcome oblivion of unconsciousness.

-n/s-

"Amshel! Amshel!" Natsuki called, pausing to catch her breath. She was not unfit exactly, but she had always been more suited to shorter and faster bursts of exercise, and never before had she had to do anything other than take the daintiest steps in so grand a dress. The added confusion and stress combined with the smoke, fire and horrible bloody massacre she had witnessed, Natsuki was hardly in the position to be chasing anybody, never mind a man who was definitely within hearing distance but was ignoring her.

Though Natsuki knew she shouldn't follow him, as he had made it clear he didn't want her to follow by ignoring her shouts, she continued to hurry along the paths, further and further away from the glow of the fires, the screams of the dying, the roars of their killers.

And she cursed herself for being such a coward, but she could not go back in there. Natsuki was mild, gentle; not as quick to anger nor as violent as her twin. She could not face the flames again, not even for her sister. Screwing up her eyes, Natsuki continued, and when she opened them once more she found herself in a familiar place; strange by the night; everything turned silver by the moon, and yet still recognisable.

"Diva's Tower…" She murmured, wafting her hand gently over the blue rose blooms she had been singing to and caring for over the past few months. She cast around the garden, which seemed its own quiet, peaceful world, searching for Amshel. As she moved past the roses, she could almost pretend that none of the horrible events of earlier had ever happened.

That thought reminded her of her search for Amshel, and then hopefully in turn to Joel, and she began to scan the courtyard once again, before seeing a light flickering in the window right at the top of the tower. Her lips parted in surprise; in all her time spent by Diva's Tower she had never thought to actually enter the building; which was silly, now she thought about it, but she never had.

Now though, she hurried towards the base of the tower, hoping to find a door there; but instead she found only an archway. Picking up her bloodstained skirts with one hand, she entered, ignoring the vines of blue roses that crawled around the entrance way. Although outside the moonlight seemed almost as bright as day, inside the tower's structure it was dark; Natsuki could only just make out the looming shadow of the stairs that spiralled right up.

Heaving a sigh at the thought of climbing them, but at loss as to what else she could do, she began to hurry up.

It was possibly ten minutes later when she finally reached the top; where the light was spilling out of the room at the end of the vine-covered hallway and flooding the hall itself. Her chest heaving with exertion, Natsuki suddenly felt a cold wave of dread. Dropping her skirts, she cautiously began to edge her way along the hallway, trying to listen for whatever might be happening on the other side of the slightly ajar door.

As she approached, the low voice of maybe two men reached her ears, and then seconds later the steady drip of a liquid falling. Her breath began to shorten; her heart thudding so hard inside her chest that it was a miracle that it hadn't already announced her presence to the men inside the room.

Tentavely she placed her hand on the door, frozen for a few seconds as she noticed the blood splattered without her notice upon her hands, before she took a calming breath and pushed the door open.

"Amshel?" She froze again, both hands still on the door even as she took a step inside the room. Amshel turned to face her calmly, unperturbed by her sudden presence. The other man was nowhere to be seen, but Natsuki didn't stop for even a second to think about that; her wide blue eyes instead fixed upon the horrific sight in front of her.

"Amshel… what is that?" She whispered, still stock still in the doorway. Hanging from the centre of the room with a bag over his head was a man. He was dead, or at least, Natsuki _hoped _he was. There was a bucket placed underneath his pale, dangling feet, and blood was running down his body into it. It dripped from his neck; where his jugular artery had been cut open. It dripped from his slashed wrists, his open ankles. All of it, flowing steadily down into the bucket, and suddenly with a sickening feeling Natsuki realised that that was what the dripping sound she had heard was.

Shaking, she pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle the scream building there, as Amshel sighed and laid down the bloodied knife he had been holding.

"This? This is food." He answered, his narrow blue eyes watching her slyly as Natsuki took another involuntary step forwards.

"What? Food?" She whispered, her terrified eyes flickering to his face even as he smiled at her, revealing his fangs. All of the breath she had been holding in exploded out of her as she gave a shriek and, turning on her heel, began to run back down the corridor. She had barely taken a step when Amshel was suddenly in front of her; using her momentum to twist her around so that Natsuki was once more facing the gruesome sight; his arm around her neck and the other hand clasping hers behind her back; successfully immobilizing her. She whimpered as he shook her slightly, closing her eyes against the pain of what was surely to come… but he didn't bite. Instead, he commanded her to look again.

"Look at it Natsuki. Watch how the blood falls, gleaming even in this meagre light…" He hissed in her ear, and she, hapless to obey, could do nothing but follow the streams of blood as it fell into the pail. "This is life, this is a necessity!" He cried, exulting in the beauty of it, while the sickness in Natsuki's stomach increased.

"Maybe for people like _you_!" She spat, venomous. She may have mostly been calm and collected, but even Natsuki had a temper. "But for those of us who aren't evil vampires, this is murder!" She yelled, beginning to struggle to get free. Amshel gave a low chuckle, so darkly amused that Natsuki stopped struggling in shock.

"Ah, but this is your medicine." He laughed; the sound echoing through the castle as Natsuki jolted, her eyes widening once more as they flickered to the drips of blood falling into the bucket. She took in its colour, its consistency, the way it fell, silently comparing it to the substance that both she and Saya drank after every meal, every day.

"We've… been drinking blood?" She murmured, still somehow hoping that Amshel would laugh it off, or even better that the whole evening was simply a nightmare and when she woke up Saya would be there, stroking her brow to calm her down. But Amshel merely smiled; she could feel it.

"Indeed. You and Saya are vampires, just like me and Joel." Amshel said, and she could feel his smile widening as her eyes did.

"What? Joel?" She asked, breathless with shock; _Joel_ was a vampire?

"Yes, Joel. A very weak, low class vampire, I might add. I am much more powerful than he, he is nearly human. But I am not as powerful as you and your sister…" Amshel mused, barely aware of the girl he held captive in his arms.

"Yes… You and Saya are most definitely vampires, but I have never seen the likes of you before. I believe you are a new subspecies of pureblood, possibly even more powerful than them! Just think, more powerful than a _pureblood_!" He breathed, the fervour of his excitement evident to Natsuki through his voice. "I have been observing you two for you whole lives, and I have given a new name to your species. _Chiropteran_. You and Saya are Chiropterans, and I shall be the first to partake from your blood!" He declared, and then the dreaded moment that Natsuki had been anticipating from the moment he caught her came; two sharp pains flared on her neck as he pierced her and she cried out again, feeling him drink.

"No! Stop… stop!" Natsuki sobbed, overrun with realisations and the events of the evening. Her world was shattering around her as fast as her blood was being drained from her, and she was powerless to stop either event. Finally, after what seemed like forever but in reality could have only been bare minutes, Amshel released her, and she collapsed onto the floor, her hand flitting up to press against the wound on her neck even as it healed underneath her fingers; further confirming Amshel's proclamation that she, and therefore Saya, were not human.

She contemplated muttering a prayer to try and ward off Amshel, but if she too was a vampire of a kind… what effect would that have on her? Was the power of the church that great, for she and Saya said their prayers every day; surely the words should have burned their tongues if they were undead? And they ate normal food, breathed, slept, danced in the sunlight as well, so they must be living in a fashion? The questions whirled through her tired brain, taking hold only long enough for Natsuki to realise she had none of the answers.

"Ahh~. Delectable…" Amshel declared with a sigh, licking the last traces of Natsuki's blood from his lips as another wave of vomit-inducing sickness crashed upon her. She saw his lips move, but it was an unfamiliar word and she did neither hear it nor understand it as her vision began to sway and blacken at the edges. A final burning pain on her left collar bone, where her unusual birthmark sat, pushed over to the edge into unconsciousness; her mind filtering in Amshel's final words;

"And now, Natsuki Diva Otonashi, you are under my control… I think I shall call you Diva. You are quite suited to my plans now." He murmured to her, cupping her face with his palm even as she drifted off. "And now, time to find your sister…"

_Please, no. Please don't let him get to Saya… please, anything but that… Take me, do whatever you want to me, but do not hurt my sister…please._

-n/s-

"Bloody hell, that was a lot of Level-E's!"

"I know; there's no way that they all suddenly sprung into existence at once. Someone must have been hoarding them and let them loose."

"But who would do something like that?"

"Some really messed up bloodsucker - whoa!" Saya looked up, tears clinging to her eyelashes, as the two loud brash men finally noticed her; a splodge of pale pink amongst the grey of the ash.

"Call the others. There's a survivor." The older, more heavy-set man who had first spotted her sitting in the ashes, ordered the younger one; and he nodded and hurried off, his face set. Saya did not say a word, simply watching without a care as the man cautiously drew his weapon and crouched next to her; his serrated blade simply hanging by his side loosely. She looked at him and saw his suppressed surprise at the colour of her eyes; she always got that reaction. She knew her eyes weren't normal.

"Hello there, honey,"

"Don't call me 'honey'." Saya coughed to clear her throat; the retort coming out rough from a voice affected by long disuse and much crying.

"Okay, okay. Calm down. Could you tell me what happened, who you are?" He asked gently, his sword suddenly clenched a little tighter in his fist.

"I am Saya Mai Otonashi, ward and adopted daughter of Joel Goldschmidt I. And surely you know what happened; you fought them. You said they were called 'Level-E's'?" She asked, sitting up a little straighter as she introduced herself, and as she did so the man's attention was drawn to the object she cradled in her hands.

It was Hagi, his eyes open and staring confusedly at Saya's worn and grief-stricken face.

"Who's this?" He asked, his voice changing as he noted the bloody holes in not only Hagi's clothes but Saya's also; indicating stab wounds although the flesh beneath was smooth and unmarked.

"Hagi. He is our servant." Saya answered, her eyes tightening as Hagi struggled to sit up. This time, she let him, and he rose; looking the other man full in the face with a suspicious expression as his eyes flickered to the sword he held.

"Our?"

"Me and my sister, Natsuki…" Saya trailed off, her teeth clenching in pain.

"And where's she?"

"I… don't know." Saya shook her head, more tears flying from her eyes. "I should never have separated from her." She cursed herself, and Hagi laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You did what you had to." He spoke softly, but the man heard him nether the less and looked startled at Saya's rebuttal;

"That maybe so but I could not even save Joel, and I do not know whether I have saved you or cursed you to be like me!" Saya finally broke down into tears, as the man's fellow companions approached out of the swirling ash.

"Like you?" The man queried, wary, and Saya met his gaze with her oddly red eyes once more.

"Not normal. Not human. I did not die, even from this," She said flatly, gesturing to her ripped bodice. "The medicine I take every day looks the same as blood… only I did not know that, as I have never seen blood properly before… neither I nor my sister had any idea that we might be anything other than human…" She closed her eyes again as further tears slipped down her cheeks. "And now Hagi is the same… our blood mixed, so he has mine, and then he healed just like me, though he was nearly dead!" Saya sobbed, her shaking hands coming up to cover her mouth.

The man stood, his frown creasing the folds of his face into a grave expression, as his colleagues crowded around him.

"She's a vampire. Not on the list, not on any record as far as I can tell. She says that she and her sister are Joel Goldschmidt's adopted daughters." The man informed the woman who appeared to be his superior from the way he acknowledged her with a bow. Her sharp grey eyes raked over Saya's broken form; taking in Hagi as well.

"There's no record of Joel having any daughters; adopted or otherwise." She murmured quietly, half thinking aloud to herself. "What happened to them?"

"Stabbed, I think, but she healed. She says that 'her blood mixed' with that young man's; Hagi, her servant."

"Then he will fall to Level-E?" She exclaimed, and Saya's head shot up, eyes wide as she ignored the collective murmurs and gasps of surprise at their colour. Before she could protest, however, another man began to push his way to the front, yelling at the people to get out of the way as he did so.

"Stop! She's telling the truth." Saya looked up to see Joel's son; Joel Goldschmidt II; a young-ish man who had recently married, but spent little time at home. He had been sent away to school, and neither Saya nor Natsuki had ever interacted much with him. The assembled people stiffened, before reluctantly relaxing their grip on their weapons.

"She's Joel's daughter?" The leader snapped, her eyes hard and suspicious.

"Yes, she's adopted. She is a vampire, but not a kind we've ever seen before. My father picked them up nearly thirty years ago. He never told me how, but he has always cared for them."

"A new kind of vampire!" The woman exclaimed in disgust. As Saya struggled to her feet with Hagi's help, the group began to mutter uneasily; all wearing various expressions of anger and exasperation.

"Yes. Amshel, my father's associate, called them 'Chiropterans'." Joel II said with a shrug. "But regardless, neither of them are on the list, and they are now in my care. You've done your job, now go home, Hunters." Joel said stiffly. The woman's eyes narrowed.

" We cannot simply let you take charge of a new species of Vampire." She stated flatly, and Joel glared back, before sighing.

"Then another kind of truce is in order, Hunters." Saya and Hagi were following the conversation; their eyes flickering back and forth between the 'Hunters' and Joel II.

"It would appear that is the case, Vampire." The lead Hunter said pleasantly; her voice still barbed despite her smile. Saya jolted and stared at Joel; it hadn't come as much of a shock to discover she was a vampire; her senses already numb and accepting, but to find that Joel was one… Both Joel's, it seemed.

"Then I will care for Saya and Hagi; and we shall search for Natsuki. You send one of your Hunters to jointly look after them, and report back to you. Isn't that normally how it works?" Joel said cynically, but the woman didn't react other than to nod the man who had been questioning Saya earlier, motioning him forwards.

"David. Will you accept responsibility?" She asked; partly a rhetorical question. David bowed, his face grave.

"Me, and all of my line from now." Joel sighed at the formality; impatient.

"Well then, our organisation is formed. Would you care to name it, Hunter?" David turned to Joel, hiding whatever his true feelings about the vampire were, and bowed again, before turning to gaze into Saya's red eyes. She stared back unblinkingly; exploring the sense that David wasn't human, but not the same as Joel either. She marked the feeling; it marked him in turn as a Hunter; obviously more than a title but a species as well.

"The Red Shield. Dedicated to the care of Saya Mai Otonashi, the search for her sister and research upon this new kind of vampire; Chiropterans." He proclaimed, and after that the rest of the Hunters dispersed fairly quickly. Joel motioned for Saya and Hagi to follow him, and after a short carriage ride the four of them arrived at the hotel. Saya was not properly awake for most of the journey; walking around in a daze and doing what she was told with mechanic efficiency, before collapsing onto the bed, still in her blood-stained evening dress and the cloak Joel had given her.

She lay on her front, staring at her hand splayed on the dark green covers. Her fist clenched, and then unclenched once more; her face still expressionless and splattered with dried blood.

"The… Red Shield…" Her eyelids dropped, her vision blurring once more.

_Natsuki…_

* * *

><p><strong>There we go, Chapter 3! Sorry for the delay; I have just gone back to school meaning I have less time to write... :( <strong>

**For those of you who haven't seen Blood+/Vampire Knight, this chapter might be a little confusing; I recommend wikipedia; it is excellent at summarising things!**

**I think I replied to most of the reviews, but if I didn't manage to; THANK YOU so much for all of your lovely reviews! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review! XD**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_1984, Bordeaux_

"You mean to say that these… monster things are a new form of vampire?" Joel exploded, standing as his hands slammed down on the desk. The desk trembled and splintered from the force, but David, standing compliantly in front of said desk, did not even bat an eyelid.

"Chiropteran," He corrected. "These 'monster things' are a new form of _chiropteran_. From what we can tell, they are the Chiropteran's version of our Level-E's, only they haven't fallen to their state; they simply seemed to transform directly from humans into these… chiropterans." David answered; the hand that reached up to loosen his tie the only sign of just how stressful he was finding the whole situation.

"Well why on _earth_ are they doing that?" Joel exclaimed, sitting back down again with a thump. David cleared his throat, and Joel's eyes instantly shot up to his partner's poker face in suspicion. "What is it? Why are the humans transforming?"

"The most traditional method out there. Blood transfers." Joel's eyes widened.

"You mean… it can't be Saya?" Joel whispered, and David shut his eyes, shaking his head. "Then… it can only be…"

"The only other chiropteran we know of; her sister. Natsuki Diva Otonashi, correct?" David opened his eyes once more, his face abruptly business like. "I don't suppose you know why she would have a motive for doing this?"

"No. From what I've heard and seen of her, she's a perfectly charming, quiet young girl." Joel replied, shaking his head in turn as he tried to process the information. "Perhaps superiority issues? After all, wherever she is, I'm willing to bet that she has discovered that she isn't human… we kept it from both Otonashi sisters, you see. Perhaps Natsuki is vexed by this, and wants to take her revenge?"

"No!" Both men looked around, startled, as Saya burst into the room, glaring angrily with Hagi in tow. Joel rose from his desk frowning severely, and opened his mouth to reprimand her when she continued. "Natsuki would _never_ do something like that! She's gentle, and she hates violence and blood! How could she create blood-sucking monsters like the ones outside?" She yelled, and both David and Joel gasped and wheeled round to scan the street below from the window.

Silence reigned for a few moments, punctuated only by the sound of Saya's angry breathing, before sure enough, several chiropteran beasts came lumbering up the road; bigger and bulkier than a human, with elongated snouts sporting arrays of sharp teeth, they were almost like giant bats with no wings. Saliva drooled from their gaping maws, the yellow orbs of their eyes glistening even in the meagre light of the smoggy morning.

"I don't suppose it crossed your mind to mention the fact that there are hungry chiropterans coming up the drive earlier?" Joel asked tightly, as David reached into his jacket for his gun; long and sliver, engraved with its name: _Bloody Rose_. Saya had the decency to look slightly ashamed, a small blush gracing her cheeks as she stammered.

"Well... I-I don't suppose I really... took it in?" She half asked, as David rushed past her, the gun held at the ready. Hagi stepped in front of Saya gently to make sure David didn't crash into her, but she barely noticed; her red eyes fixed on Joel, who was in turn gazing out of the window at the drive, where the chiropterans were fast approaching the door.

Both Saya and Hagi jumped as they heard gunshots; both hearing past the glass of the window to the thuds as the bullets found their targets, the growls and yelps of pain from the beasts, the 'glyk' sound as the chiropterans healed and the curses from David as he shot again and again, only to have the monsters continue to advance.

"Damn it!" Joel exclaimed, his fist tightening its grip on the back of his chair, before with another string of bad language that was really not suitable for Saya's hearing, he too dashed from the room. Both Saya and Hagi had by now figured out that the fight on the drive was not exactly going the way they ideally would have wanted it too; casting around Saya's eye was caught by a gleaming katana with a green and blue handle mounted on the wall.

It was different from what she usually sparred with, but nonetheless she hurried forwards and lifted it from its bracket. Hagi, having found no other weapon than the one Saya had used on the eve of Joel's birthday party, simply hoisted her cello case onto his back, and followed his mistress as she lifted her skirts and followed in David and Joel's footsteps.

Hagi opened the wooden front door that was, unbeknownst to both him and Saya, actually quite heavy, and with a brief smile of thanks, Saya charged out, unsheathing the blade she carried as she did so.

Joel did not appear to have a weapon of any description; yet his hands moved so fast that the wind he created slashed into the chiropterans and left bloody trails in their wake. Saya paused, confused, and for almost a full minute her and Hagi simply watched Joel fight in his rather bizarre wind-martial art style, vaguely hearing the gunshots from David's Bloody Rose.

"Kamaitachi?*" Saya murmured, her sword forgotten in her hand.

"Huh…" Hagi answered doubtfully, before suddenly they both returned to their senses and rushed into the fray.

David was just pausing to reload desperately, eying the fast healing and also fast approaching chiropteran warily when Saya suddenly dashed across his path, katana flashing.

She turned back as the chiropteran's arm fell to the floor, and he caught sight of her eyes; glowing with unnatural bright light as she faced the two chiropterans she had captured the attention of.

Another slash and she lopped off a leg, while Hagi leapt in to batter the other away. Despite Hagi's efforts though, one claw managed to catch Saya on her sword hand; and while she winced at the slash as the blood ran down her hand and trailed down her blade, she didn't drop the katana nor stop fighting.

Sprinting forwards once more and miraculously not tripping on her skirts, she cut off another arm; so left facing an armless chiropteran and a footless. She pivoted, and with fantastic grace sliced through the other's head and dying herself and Hagi red with the resounding spray of blood. The combined efforts of Joel and David managed to injure the third beast enough that it stopped healing and simply lay there, breath rattling through its damaged throat and lungs.

"What…?" Saya gasped as they all watched the two chiropterans that Saya had dealt with begin to turn to stone with a series of cracks, before they shattered into pieces; revealing a red crystalline interior beneath the grey stone crust. Joel frowned at it thoughtfully, his mind racing, before his dark grey eyes flickered to the barely alive chiropteran behind him.

"Saya." He said, his voice grave, and Saya's red eyes met his as the glow faded from them, tinged with shock. He motioned for her to approach him, and she did so, the katana still clenched tightly in her bloody fist. Hagi followed silently, and the trio came to a stop by David and the still living chiropteran.

"Feed it your blood." Joel ordered, ignoring Saya's horrified look, and at his nod she reluctantly complied with a frown; wincing once more as she used the katana to slice open her palm once more. Holding her now fisted hand above the chiropteran's gaping maw, she clenched her fingers; causing the red beads to run down her hand and drip into its mouth.

There was silence while they all waited with bated breath, despite the fact that the only one who knew what they were waiting for was Joel. Finally, with a somehow anticlimactic crackling, the chiropteran too died and crystallized; turning to sparkling red dust within minutes. With eyes that were clouded with confusion, Saya and Hagi looked at Joel, who was looking satisfied, if slightly unhappy that his guess had been correct. Understanding had dawned on David's face, and he was now putting the Bloody Rose away, his face grave.

"Well, now we have proof. It truly is Natsuki who is causing this." Joel pronounced, and Saya glared again, her teeth gritting as she dropped the katana, her wounds healing without her notice.

"What? Where did you get this 'proof'? It cannot be Natsuki!" Saya shouted, and Joel turned to face her, the sorrow in his eyes halting her fury.

"Do you know what your only known weakness is? Natsuki's blood. And her weakness is yours. Upon coming into contact with each other, they will crystallize." Saya's wide eyes flickered to the beasts as Joel continued. "When your blood meets Natsuki's, or a being with her blood, it will crystallize. The fact that you were able to kill these chiropterans means they have been made with her blood, and thus it is Natsuki who is behind all of this."

"No…" Saya whispered, but she was now protesting more to herself than Joel as her knees gave out and she collapsed.

"Saya!" Hagi knelt, his arms encircling her shoulders comfortingly in an instant as she began to shake.

"No… no, it can't be! It can't be!" Saya shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.

"Well it is, and now you must help us fight, as the only one who can easily kill these beasts. We must find and eliminate the threat, to protect humanity. And that threat is your sister, so we search for Natsuki not only to find her, but deal with her if necessary." David said severely, as Saya looked up and met his gaze silently, tears streaming down her cheeks. Even that worn and tough Hunter could meet the agonising grief that spilled from Saya's ruby eyes.

-n/s-

Without a certain destination, I keep pursuing east

My own shadow is the only company

I carve the distant voice on my blank map

As I seek whom it belongs to.

-n/s-

_1885, Toulouse_

"There are just more and more of them each time. It's as if they're drawn to me somehow." Saya muttered, picking at the blood that clung to her dark trench coat.

Time had moved on, and now Saya received fewer and fewer odd looks for wearing shorter skirts or sometimes even trousers; she could not fight in petticoats, though of course the general public did not know about that and so still pointed and whispered behind her back.

Saya however, was indifferent, focused only on finding her sister, and while David and eventually even Joel spoke of eliminating her, Saya was sure that there was a reason for this. Hagi agreed with her fervent belief that Natsuki could never purposely do something like create a race of bloodthirsty monsters.

They blamed Amshel; convinced that as he was also unaccounted for he must also be with Natsuki, and so must be controlling her. Joel conceded that it was a possibility, but Saya could see the doubt in their eyes, which only made her resolve that much stronger.

She would find her twin, and then they would be able to live happily once more. Meanwhile, she would fight her hardest to get to her, and Saya held onto the belief that she had not lost those peacefully carefree days yet.

"Saya! More approaching!" David yelled, cocking the Bloody Rose as Saya slid her thumb over the groove of her custom made katana, sending her blood shooting along the length of her blade and turning it into the deadliest weapon against the chiropterans. Her eyes opened, glowing with the fiery determination of battle as she prepared to fight. Fight to find her sister.

-n/s-

We're destined to go around further, further without end

Trying to find the fragment of my heart, I keep wandering.

-n/s-

_1885, Belmont _

She was just on the other side. Just through those doors, she was waiting, Saya could feel it. She could hear her song, that special aria that Natsuki had made up solely by herself and was so coveted by her, echoing through her mind with each bloody slash as Saya hacked her way through chiropteran after chiropteran.

By this time she had been splashed with blood many times, and the dark navy of her coat could barely be seen through the film. Likewise, Hagi, David and Joel were similarly bloodstained as they collected in the hall of the mansion, surrounded by chiropteran limbs, to regroup; all four slightly out of breath.

Joel picked at the collar of his bloody suit with a reproachful expression on his face; grateful that even as a vampire he felt no bloodlust for the blood of these beasts.

"You know, I really think we need to find a way of fighting that doesn't involve getting quite so blood-stained." He said by way of greeting. David glared at him, while both Saya and Hagi glanced down at their blood spattered selves with a note of surprise.

"Now is not the time for that. Saya, can you still hear her?" David snapped, his face the picture of a perfect and determined Hunter. As Saya nodded affirmative, she was reminded once more of the fact that David was not completely human.

"She's still here." Saya replied, and David nodded grimly.

"Then we go in." At once, everyone's faces hardened imperceptibly; you would have had to know them all extremely well to be able to tell that their real mission started now.

They burst through the doors in one flood, to find that no beasts awaited in the marbled ballroom; only empty echoing grandeur. The singing heard only by Saya and Hagi suddenly stopped; halting in time with the pace of the four warriors.

Saya cast her head about, eyes narrowed as she searched the room for the source of the voice.

"Where are you, Natsuki?" Saya asked in frustration, her fighting stance relaxing just as a wild giggling filled the room. Saya gasped and took a step forwards as she recognised the voice, only to be held back suddenly by a pair of all too familiar pair of arms, clothed in midnight blue velvet.

"Here, sister!" Saya whirled around, only to find her sister gone. She turned back to see Natsuki herself standing in the centre of the room, hands clasped behind her back as she smiled sweetly, having moved impossibly fast.

"Natsuki…" The blue eyed twin laughed; a high, cruel sound that had all of them flinching.

"Did you enjoy my present, sister Saya?" Diva asked gleefully, a hint of her fangs visible as she beamed.

"Present?" Saya whispered, her eyes still wide. She had grown up with Natsuki; nobody knew her better than Saya and vice versa. This girl who bore her likeness was not her, Saya could tell. And yet at the same time, she _was_ Natsuki, in some strange, twisted form. The girl laughed again.

"Yes, my gift! Didn't you enjoy hacking apart my children? They aren't very pretty, but they do make me laugh!" Saya's eyes impossibly widened further, her face a mask of horror as her sword began to shake in her hand.

"Natsuki… what happened to you?" She whispered. The blue eyed twin laughed again, twirling on her tiptoes.

"I'm not Natsuki anymore, sister Saya. I'm Diva." Diva flashed forwards once more, her arms encircling Saya's shoulders as she brought their faces closer, as Saya trembled, eyes still wide.

"Won't you live with me in this way, sister Saya? Look at what we can create! Look at what we can do to these silly humans, even these stupid vampires who kept us!" Diva exclaimed ecstatically, but Saya tried to step back out of her sister's embrace. Diva however, tightened her arms around her for a moment, breathing in Saya's ear.

"Look, I'll show you…" There was a blue flash, and for a minute everyone was still; uncertain as to where 'Diva' had gone.

Joel coughed; a horrible, hacking, wet sound, and everyone turned aghast to face him as he spluttered again, blood trailing from his lips, and when Diva pulled her hand from his chest he staggered and fell, the gaping hole left behind only emphasising what Diva had done; as she held her bloodied hand up, Joel's heart clenched in her delicate, piano playing fingers.

"I wonder… what do you taste like?" Diva smiled, her fangs once again visible, and brought Joel's heart to her lips, her small, shell pink tongue flickering out to taste it. Joel groaned again, drawing everyone's eyes once more.

He had managed to somehow turn to look up at Diva, his eyes a cold, angry red.

"You… should not be using humans in this way… There will be consequences for this…" He coughed again, more blood splattering down his chin, before he disintegrated into white sand. Saya gasped, before turning to face Diva, who was looking at the sand that had once been Joel's heart in disappointment.

"Natsuki!" Diva looked up, pouting.

"I'm _Diva_, sister Saya. Do try and remember." She commented, opening her fist to let the sand fall onto the marbled floor. Her pure blue eyes widened slightly as David shot her, his teeth gritted in anger. The bullet passed straight through her shoulder, but did not seem to harm Diva in the slightest; she began to giggle as Saya, shoulders shaking, tore her eyes away from the pile of slightly drifting sand and raised her sword.

When her eyes opened, gracing her sister's face, they were blood red.

"Diva. I don't know what's happened to you, but… I will never forgive you for using and hurting people in this way!" Saya yelled, running her finger along the groove of her blade, her feet shifting into a fighting stance.

Over the past year that Hagi, David, Joel and herself had spent fighting together, a close bond had developed between them all; and while Saya did not care for Joel as she had done for his father, she had still loved him, and counted him as her family. The fact that 'Diva' had ripped that love away and left a bleeding hole proved like nothing else that 'Natsuki' was gone.

With a bloodthirsty cry, Saya raised her blade and charged, slashing at Diva, who disappeared in a blue blur, reappearing on the far side of the room, her long hair blowing in the wind that came through the window she had shattered.

"Oh, you're so scary today, sister. I'll send you more gift! _That_ will cheer you up!" Giggling, there was a strong gust of wind, accompanied by shards of broken glass, and Diva disappeared.

-n/s-

Your singing voice soothes even my dried soul

I won't give up finding you

Whose smile has been burned into my mind.

-n/s-

_1886, Marseilles_

It had been six months since Joel II's death, and his young son had taken over the organisation, while David, suddenly reminded of his own mortality, was training his own son to follow in his footsteps. David still accompanied Saya and Hagi, but Joel III, a weaker vampire than his father and barely comparable to his grandfather as the Goldschmidt line was diluted with more and more human blood, preferred to oversee the rapidly expanding group called the Red Shield.

The appearance of chiropterans had also increased dramatically, which was the reason for the swelling in the size of the Red Shield; more and more people, bereaved by chiropteran related incidences, signed up to extract their revenge.

Their common symbol became the red crystals that chiropteran's became once eliminated by Saya; all carried around a piece of chiropteran, infected by Saya's blood, to remind them of what their goal was.

Since Joel's death, Saya had become a lot more distant; she accepted the help of the Red Shield and followed their orders, but she and Hagi tended to fight alone unless specifically instructed otherwise; using the Red Shield's supply of money to help them get around the world.

It was on a train that it happened. Hagi and Saya were travelling south, in response to reported sightings of a beautiful blue eyed girl who left destruction in her wake, and it was evening; the sky lit up with golden colours.

Saya was gazing out of the window, wearing dark purple with her head pinned back, she was the picture of a grand lady travelling down to her 'summer mansion'. Hagi was reading a letter from David; despite not interacting much in their new situation, they kept up a regular correspondence.

"Hagi." Saya's voice was a sudden interruption, surprising, if welcome, to Hagi; who looked up immediately to see her still staring at the passing landscape.

"Yes?"

"Do you remember before, when we left the Zoo?" Hagi knew what she was referring to; when the Hunters had found Saya cradling Hagi's head, he had not just woken up. There had been a few scientists who had managed to survive the majority of the night and had been saved by the arrival of the Hunters, and these men were greedy, more like Amshel in character than Joel, though just as curious. None of them would have passed up the opportunity to steal away the greatest discovery of the century; an entirely new species.

Hagi had transformed; his hands beast like as bat wings erupted from his back, driven by a wild urge to protect Saya at any cost. She had been just as terrified by him, by what she had turned him into, as by the men's attempts to kidnap her, and Hagi had vowed on the spot to never show her his horrible form again.

"Yes." He said quietly, the letter rustling as he lowered it, the scene flashing briefly before his eyes.

"That was also all because of my blood." Saya stated softly, with little real emotion in her voice, as she turned her gaze to her lap. "Chiropterans like me and Diva shouldn't have existed." Hagi's face was as always, inscrutable, but his hands involuntarily tightened on the letter, the cream parchment crumpling beneath his lithe fingers.

"Saya…" He murmured softly. Saya raised her head to meet his gaze as she replied.

"I hope you will keep your promise, after I've put an end to everything. When this is over, I hope you will help me rid the world of all chiropterans. Down to the very last ones…" Saya said, her eyes piercing him as his own tightened. "Including me and you." She finished, and Hagi felt as if she was stabbing him with each word. His head lowered as he fought tears; David's elegant handwriting blurring in his vision.

"If that is what you wish, then when this is all over..."

-n/s-

**At the end of the artificial paradise**

**Deep, deep in the bottom of the earth**

**I am fated to sing prayers**

**All alone**

-n/s-

_1918, Russia_

Saya had never seen so much snow. Russia was a strange country, she had long since decided, as she raised a hand to brush the white flakes from Hagi's hair. So much snow, so much cold. Though now she could barely tell whether it was freezing or only mildly icy, she knew that snow was cold, she could vaguely feel the chill of the snowflakes on the tips of her fingers. Her hand dropped to Hagi's cheek, seeing the pain in his eyes as her eyelids drooped.

They had arrived in Russia barely three days previously, arriving at a small snow covered town in search of one of Diva's most recent chevaliers; that being the name that described what Hagi was. A being who was chiropteran; above the beasts and yet below their queens; they served as 'knights' to the one who granted them their eternal life, inhuman abilities and strength. Diva seemed to have an abundance of them, Saya still regretted transforming Hagi.

In their search they had come across a young girl who had introduced herself as 'Sorya', and had invited them to stay. She had been very full on with the idea of friendship, very cheerful, and every word she had spoken had reminded Saya of what she had once had with Natsuki.

Sorya had turned out to be their target; Grigori, a recently turned chevalier of Diva's. Saya had killed him, but had not been able to chase after the carriage that Grigori had been protecting; her eyesight wavering and blurring, she knew it heralded her Long Sleep, approaching much faster than last time.

And now, she lay in Hagi's arms, barely able to feel as her nerves numbed themselves in preparation, and the snow fell all around them.

"Hagi… remember your promise…" She breathed, and then her hand slipped, her eyes shutting. Hagi caught her hand, gazing at her sleeping face. Those beautiful red eyes would not open again for thirty years.

"I will always watch over you. Even if you change into something else, even if I am separated from you, I will find you. So… sleep for now, Saya. I will wait for you."

-n/s-

**From the past that had nowhere to go**

**I weave voices going round and round**

**At the edge of a repeating history**

**I dedicate myself to this fate**

-n/s-

_1972, Vietnam_

The soldiers watched with trepidation as the needle entered the crease of her elbow, the blood inside slowly pushed into her veins. Their breath was bated; even David, their leader, was unsure as to what the outcome would be. Nobody had ever tried to forcefully awaken the girl who was their greatest weapon from her Long Sleep; thirty year gaps where she was inactive. Upon awakening naturally from these sleeps, she usually drank the blood of her chevalier, Hagi, and so it seemed logical that if they were to inject her with Hagi's blood, she would awaken.

They did not consult Hagi about this, or he may have been able to warn them of the consequences; but awaken her they did. But while her eyes opened, they shone a blood red; and that unnatural glow did not fade.

Her sword to hand, she was just as fearsome and insane as their enemy Diva on that bloody night. Everything she found fell; bloody and slashed apart whether they were human, beast, Hunter or Vampire, they were equals in death by Saya's blade.

She did not stop, the boiling rage inside her driving her to kill and kill and kill again, bloody splatter by bloody splatter. Hagi was nearby, but even he could not stop her in the face of her relentless rampage; she did not recognise him, distracted from finishing him off only by the smattering of guns as the Military engaged her.

And so she left him, clutching the bloody stump of his hand, and he did not follow her as she went on with her massacre. He ran away.

-n/s-

**Not knowing anything, I've been continuously singing**

**For the whole of my life**

**A song for the sun, a song for the rain**

**A gentle requiem**

-n/s-

_2005, Okinawa_

Following her bloody killing fest, Saya fell asleep again; wrapping herself in her cocoon to protect herself from the long thirty years that passed until she awoke again. David IV, the great, great grandson of the Hunter who had first formed the Red Shield with the Vampire Joel Goldschmidt II, had barely managed to survive the night when he was found by a trusted subordinate of his; George Miyagusuku. Before he passed away, he entrusted his Bloody Rose gun to the Red Shield, to pass onto his son, and the hibernating Saya to George.

George took her to Okinawa, where he set up his Omoro with his wife and son, and lived in perfect contentment. However, at the back of his mind was always the anxious, nagging thought of the girl who slept in his family vault.

But life continued as Saya slept; interrupted only by the catastrophic loss of Mrs Miyagusuku and her son; completely shocking George and sending him into a state of depression. Bereft, he tried to take his own life, up in the tomb where Saya slept on. Perhaps some instinct alerted her to the impending death in the room, perhaps it was simply mere coincidence, but whichever, her heart began to suddenly beat more strongly, the 'egg' she was curled in pulsing with that strange purple light.

George heard Saya's will to live on in her heartbeats, felt her wish for no more death, and pulled himself together.

He restarted his Omoro, building it back up, integrating himself back into the community that he had detached himself from upon the death of his family. He adopted Kai; a young, angry ginger boy, and Riku; younger, quieter, soft spoken. Two boys, who had been dealt bad hands in the game of life, and needed his help.

And so more years passed, and yet Saya continued to sleep; oblivious to the world moving around her, and still that mantra repeated itself in George's head: _when will she wake up? What do I do when she does? When will she wake up? When will she wake up?_

Of course, that day eventually came. It was raining, and Saya's hair pooled around her in the water, dark and long from her time spent asleep, and the hand that held the gun that aimed at her head shook. George had been terrified of this day; fearing it and at the same time waiting for it. He had seen the destruction that Saya had wrought on the battlefields of Vietnam; he was not about to let her destroy his home.

And yet, the eyes with which she curiously looked up at him with were innocent. There was no blood lust, no desire to kill. Just curiosity. What is this liquid splashing on my face? What is that thing that you are pointing at me? What is the noise that comes from my stomach? What is this thing? You want me to put it around myself? Why? Do I put this in my mouth? What for? Why does it taste like that? What is that crashing sound coming from that big pool of water over there? What are these ledges? I walk down them? What for? How? Why? What is this?

She questioned everything. She was like a newborn baby; with no inkling of the world she saw around her. The only differences were her age and agility; she regained the ability to walk and run and jump very quickly, and her learning curve was much steeper than a newborn's.

She remembered nothing from her past. For an entire year, she slipped into a cheerful persona that perhaps the second Joel and first David may have recognised, but none of the current Red Shield members knew. They watched over her from a distance as she attended school, took part in track events, ate to her heart's content, watching from the shadows for any signs of her awakening.

She did not awaken. Hagi found her, and he once again stayed by her side. But he was rejected out of ignorance; she had no idea who he was other than that he seemed familiar; the tune he played on his cello echoed in her mind and brought with it vague memories, a feeling of frustration.

Little did she know that it was the very piece that she had drilled Hagi to play so religiously for so long; the frustration at his inability to play as she wanted. But that's beside the point; Hagi returned, but he was not the only one who found her; chiropterans, created by Diva, sought the red queen out, and once again Saya vowed to fight.

Her resolution returned without the aid of her memories in an event involving her family. One of George's old friends, Forrest, was infected by Diva's blood. Through his strangely slow transformation into a beast, he managed to focus on one thought; George would help him.

But he lost all semblance of human intelligence as he got there, and attacked. Only Hagi's quick intervention managed to save his life, but Saya still would not fight. As David recovered from the wounds Forrest had given him, George tried to take Saya's katana, which Hagi proffered, to defend his daughter, but Saya wouldn't let him take it.

She didn't know what made her hand tighten around the worn in handle of the blade, which although she had no memory of ever seeing it prior to Hagi's appearance, fit strangely comfortably into her hand, but even as George tugged on it, her fingers clasped it. It was her sword, she was certain of that, and nobody else was allowed to wield it.

She met George's gaze with confusion, to see accepting sadness in his eyes. He stepped back, smiling at her even through the pain that she could see so clearly in his eyes.

"If this is what you've chosen…" He said softly, and he stepped back out of the way, as Saya's gaze fell upon the red eyed form of the chiropteran who had once been Forrest. She turned to Hagi, who stood in front of her, as he held out his bloodied, bandaged hand.

At the sight of the blood oozing from his palm, tendrils of creeping red circled her pupil, like a beast circling prey, and turned her red eyes to glowing embers. Only David continued watching in fascination as Saya drank; George could not watch.

When Kai, Saya's adoptive older brother, drew up outside his home bare minutes later, Forrest was dead on the floor, Saya collapsed on her knees with her sword clenched in her hands as tears slipped down her blood stained face.

"Saya!" He tried to run forwards, but David held him back; his pale blue eyes fixed upon Saya's shaking form.

"Do you understand now? This is your fate."

-n/s-

**At the end of the road to the paradise**

**Warm hands were offered**

**But couldn't reach me**

-n/s-

_2005, Volterra_

Nathan strode along the corridor, the heels of his white, tasselled cow-girl boots snapping sharply on the oak of the hall. Diva was in the room at the end, supposedly sleeping, and for once Nathan was the only 'chevalier' in the mansion. Solomon was out of the house attending to matters as CEO, James, a chevalier recruited in Berlin, 1945, was overseeing something that frankly Nathan cared nothing for, and even God probably wouldn't have cared where Amshel was. Nathan only cared that he was not in the house.

Nathan had returned to the Zoo in France one hundred and twenty years ago to find the grand house that Joel Goldschmidt lived in had been razed to the ground. Unfortunately for both Nathan and the twins, vampires do not take much notice of the passing of time in quite the same way as humans; Nathan, a servant to a nearly immortal pureblood, cared even less for marking the years, much less the months or days. He had not realised that he was long overdue on his visit to the twins; he had originally planned to show up when they hit twenty; around the time most pureblood vampires ceased to show visible signs of aging.

Obviously, he had rather missed that deadline; and so cursing himself searched for the twins. Saya was nearby, in Bordeaux, and he found her relatively quickly in the care of Joel II and a Hunter named David. He was unhappy at the presence of the Hunter, but then he saw Hagi.

Nathan had been living for a very long time, but never had he seen anything like Hagi. He knew a lot about the inner workings of the strange system of masters and servants, but Hagi was altogether another matter. He had heard the term they had given to him; 'Chevalier', created by a human drinking the blood of one of the twins, who quickly became known as 'Queens' in reference to the hierarchy system.

It had amused Nathan that even the lower vampires and humans had come so close; for Natsuki and Saya were indeed purebloods, a very similar equivalent to a 'Queen'. But watching the way Hagi cared for his 'Queen' set his mind at ease; for now, it was fine to leave Saya where she was, with this 'Red Shield'.

So he went on to search for the other twin; the blue eyed Natsuki. Even with his special skills, it had taken Nathan a very long time to find her; almost fifty years passed until he came across her in 1935, Berlin, just before the outbreak of World War II. He had very nearly killed the man called 'Amshel' on the spot, but long years of training and bad experiences due to rushing straight into things kept him back; observing.

And what he observed made him angrier than he had ever been before, angrier even than when a lowlife vampire had tried to kill his previous mistress; Mary Kuran. Amshel was a vampire who must have been an associate of Joel's, only Nathan had not realised it. Had he noticed his presence, he may have housed the twins with some other more trusted person, but he didn't notice it. It wasn't as if Amshel was particularly powerful; his vampire blood thinned by human, he was barely an aristocrat. Nathan could have killed him by barely lifting his little finger, had Amshel not drunk the blood of Natsuki.

Nathan could feel it instantly; the strange power that was a twisted echo of Natsuki's own, circling Amshel like poisonous ivy. The powers that Amshel, and then Diva's subsequent chevaliers that followed; a German Nazi whose name Nathan had never learnt and Grigori, who were both now dead, Solomon, James and Karl… Karl fascinated Nathan; the young Vietnamese man had been turned merely to be a test subject… and yet he loved Diva, craved her perhaps more than even Amshel. He was also stark raving mad, which Nathan found rather entertaining.

But those matters were not his primary concern right now; Diva was. Or rather, _Natsuki_ was, for while Nathan recognised the blue eyed twin as one of the daughters of Juri Kuran, she was not Natsuki; for a start, he did not think that even Joel could have spoiled her enough for her to want to be called 'Diva'.

And so he was making his way towards her, unhindered by the presence of any of the other chevaliers, to discover what, exactly, was wrong with Natsuki Diva Kuran.

"Diva~" He murmured; enjoying his over theatrical performance as a gay transvestite to the full. While he may have already been a transvestite, he wasn't gay; he was bisexual. Even had he been gay, Nathan wouldn't have naturally acted quite the way he did in the company of Diva's chevaliers. He just enjoyed it.

He came to a halt by the soft, white carpet, which was littered with ripped cushions, torn apart toys and, unusually, shredded music scores. Diva sat in the middle of it, her sky blue dress pooled around her, with her head in her hands; her dark hair drapery.

"Diva?" He queried again, his tone softer and more cautious; there was no way of knowing what kind of mood she was in, and he felt a slight tremor of apprehension as she slowly raised his head and met his gaze. Silence reigned as she stared at him apathetically, while he gazed back in curiosity.

"N…Natsuki?" He queried softly, and the young girl's frame suddenly jolted as she gasped, her hands coming up to clutch her head as if something were trying to get out and causing a great deal of pain. Nathan rushed forwards, his hands fluttering anxiously as the blue eyed girl groaned, her fingers tightening in her dark tresses.

Suddenly, she gave another gasp and reared up, strands of long dark hair catching on her thin fingers as she raised her head, panting softly with some great effort. She took a deep breath, and while Nathan wasn't sure what he had expected her to do, he certainly would never have expected this.

"**This town of darkest night**

**Is lit by only a single light**

**The creaking sound of old broken limbs**

**Echoing as I walk**

**I don't even have anywhere to go**

**And I am not able to walk that well,**" Her eyes closed, sweat beading on her forehead she sang; struggling to get the words out as Nathan sat and listened, unable to do anything else.

"**Why must I have been born?**

**Why is my heart the colour of silver?**

**Why must I have been born?**

**I can only continue singing for all eternity,**"

"**Someday I'll fall asleep again**

**And then see that wonderful place and that person**

**But she always stays in my dreams, on the other side of the mirror**

**My dream does not come true**

**I sing, live and break alone.**"

"**Time passes, so much time locked away**

**And I even forget my songs**

**I rush to that place where she is**

**Hurrying away from this cage**

**But while I drag my cracked body**

**I keep falling down,**"

"**The place where she is is beautiful**

**With a view of the sea and full of flowers**

**Now, I'll go to sleep so I can see her**

**And be together with that precious person.**"

"**Someday, my wish will come true**

**The mirror will break, finally**

**I can almost hear her**

**She is so close…**"

"**In my dreams, I can hear her voice**

**It resounds kindly in my heart**

**Her peaceful light envelopes me**

**And I smile**

**I smile…**" Natsuki's body suddenly flopped, lifeless, like a rag doll, and Nathan surged forwards to catch her as her hair fell over her face. Natsuki blinked, her blue eyes cloudy, and a single tear fell, gleaming in the light.

And then she was Diva.

But Nathan had discovered what it was that was wrong with 'Natsuki', what made her 'Diva'. It was a spell. A funny symbol that stank of very very old magic, twisting beneath the skin of her collarbone, only surfacing when she fought it.

And as he sat there, with Diva dreaming of Saya softly in his arms, he realised many things about just how strong Natsuki was. His lips curved into a smile, and he chuckled softly, shifting her dead weight in his arms.

"You're fighting it, aren't you? Clever girl."

-n/s-

_Sing forever…_

-n/s-

The Red Shield were in Russia, and although the snow falling was fresh, newly born, Saya found there was something almost nostalgic about it, as she gazed through the slightly frosted glass of the train, the sound of Hagi's cello resounding in her ears and joining with the echoes from her memory. Her eyelids drooped, the snow blurring her vision to white…

"_But they're silence; how can I play them?"_

"_You idiot, Hagi, they're still part of the music, so of course you can play them."_

Saya blinked, straightening suddenly.

"The pauses…" She muttered, and Hagi looked up, his eyes wide as his bow halted upon the quivering strings. "You need to play the pauses…" She repeated, her brow scrunching in confusion as she looked up. Hagi's face softened gently.

"Yes." Saya's gaze dropped to her lap once more, and the cello started up again as the Siberian Express hurtled onwards through the snow.

David, Lewis, Dr Julia, Kai, Riku and Saya had all met up with another Red Shield Agent; a pretty young woman named Liza, at the port of Vladivostok in Russia, having disembarked from the Red Shield HQ. From there, they had boarded the Siberian Express, travelling east across the snowy continent in search of 'Diva', a nameless entity that Saya could barely remember.

Once Saya had accepted her role back in Okinawa, the Red Shield had headed to Hanoi, Vietnam, following rumours about a blood-drinking 'phantom' at the Lycee Academy. Saya had enrolled as a student, while Kai and Riku chased them, eventually catching them up and being accepted as part of the Red Shield group who worked with Saya; George entrusting his sons to the rather reluctant David's care.

Taking Saya back to Vietnam had proved to be rather a bad idea; the bloodstained memories returning of the massacre she had wrought so many years before. She went completely berserk once more, but Kai stopped her, somehow managing to jolt her from her reverie, but not before the Red Shield support team had been completely wiped out.

The 'Phantom' had turned out to be Carl; a chevalier of Diva's, though at that point, Saya did not know that. She only knew he was more powerful than the chiropterans she had previously faced, and he escaped.

Briefly, the Miyagusuku brothers and Saya returned to Okinawa to bid a proper farewell to their friends; Kaori, Saya's best friend, two of Kai's friends and Mao, Kai's slightly obsessive girlfriend, primarily.

They then boarded the massive boat that was the Red Shield's headquarters, and headed to Russia, to be met by Liza.

It was on the train that Liza's previously cheerful personality subtly changed; she grilled the uncomfortable Saya about particular elements of her life; her blood drinking, her speed and recovery abilities, and then Liza disappeared from the train, smiling. Riku fell from the carriage where Saya and Hagi had been battling a chiropteran, and Saya leapt after him, followed by Hagi.

Saya passed out on the snow, unable to find her little brother, and as she dreamed she remembered the last time she had been in Russia; 1914… though of course she didn't know the date. She remembered a fireside, a gentler Hagi with a much more open face, a snowy landscape that yielded no answers in their search for the enigma that was 'Diva'… the chiropteran, the chevalier she had fought there… she had fallen asleep…

And then she woke to find Hagi by her side, his face almost as open as her memory. He used to be different, she realised, and she wondered what had wrought the change in the faithful man.

Liza, Riku, Hagi and Saya headed for Ekaterinberg, to meet with the other Red Shield members, but Riku forced the group to stop at a hotel; his cold and fever as effective as chains in keeping them there. Liza again questioned Saya, who squirmed under her gaze.

Why do you fight the chiropterans?

Liza turned out to be a chiropteran herself; a chevalier, Saya guessed, from the way she appeared human. Saya tried to kill her, but Liza broke her sword, leaving Saya entirely at her mercy. But Liza did not kill her.

"You are a chiropteran, Saya. Did you really think you were human?_ We_ are your family… don't you know you have a sister? She is your real family, not these humans. Go to the Zoo, Saya…That's where it all began."

Saya and Hagi disappeared, the Red Shield arriving on the scene to find a distraught Riku, the broken edges of an all too familiar gleaming katana and a note.

"Liars."

-n/s-

At the end of the desperate paradise

I seek the lost voice

I am fated to wander

From street to street, further and further away

In the shadow of the closed history

I long for the stolen days

That voice that echoes in the depth of my heart is agonized by suffering

-n/s-

_2005, Bordeaux_

The Zoo was crumbling. It was a ruin, but not the kind with signs and audio guides that tourists tramp around. None of the local people would go near it, because of the taboo of the tragedy of Bordeaux Sunday, which had befallen the wonder known as 'the Zoo' in the late 18th Century.

It had been a long journey to get there, travelling across the country side, hitching rides. But the scenery was beautiful; the rolling hills and vineyards of France welcoming Saya and Hagi. She would not eat. She was in a denial of a sorts, just as stricken by her nonhuman-ness the second time around as the first.

She decided she didn't need to eat human food. After all, wasn't she one of _them_? But she would not drink either, though her control was slipping as the weeks passed with no blood from her transfusions, and no blood from her faithful chevalier Hagi either.

They were nearly there when the Schiff attacked them. A group of darkly robed figures, Hagi fought them singlehandedly, and came very close to losing. In fact, he did lose, in a sense, for the Schiff gained their objective; his blood. But he won too, for he did not die, and his blood was not the answer. The Schiff who drank his blood, apparently to try and save herself from a strange, crystallizing disease that plagued their kind, only hastened her death, and was carried away by her comrades.

They were not bothered again, and the next day they reached the Zoo.

Many memories awoke for Saya here; so much of her past lay in the place that it would have been hard not to remember such happy times. Meeting Hagi for the first time. Singing, and dancing… with someone. A shadow of a person; the pain associated with the memory of them enough to make Saya's mind shy away. But the shadow was in every memory; in every flash of her distant past, there was a swirl of blue skirts, strands of dark hair, a pale hand entwined with her own.

But no name. No face. No identity could she give to this person. Solomon met them there. Saya realised he was a chevalier, to her dismay; he had been the charming young man she had danced with so long ago at Lycee. At a childish school dance, she had thought him rather dashing, and here he was an enemy.

Yet he seemed so kind, so considerate. Please, Saya, let me tell you my side of the story. Won't you join us? Would it really be so bad? Stop fighting. You won't have to fight anymore… you can join with your sister… with your family….

But Saya's resolve, for all its wavering, rang true. She fought, unaware that the Red Shield had arrived and were searching for her in the vast grounds. Only when she heard his scream did she realise Riku was in trouble.

The top of the tower… she ran. Riku no longer screamed. She reached the door.

"_Don't open it!_" A voice, shrieking at her. "_Don't!_" Her voice? No… similar, almost the same, but not hers. The mystery person's? Saya did not know, but nor could she, would she, heed the warning. She had to open the door.

XXX

Natsuki spent most of her time curled up in her cage. The bars, if you could call them that, were purple, she had decided. Or red, like blood, but she found she rather liked the colour red, but she didn't like the bars. So they couldn't be red. So they were purple. Purple was a heavy colour, sticky and too sweet, and then sour at the same time, like a plum.

Why did she like red? Eyes. Somebody's eyes. Somebody precious had red eyes. They looked nice in red. And pink. Red… and pink. They were nice colours, so the bars couldn't be either of those. And she was blue. Natsuki wasn't sure why, curled up as she was, but she knew she was blue. And she wasn't the one who had locked herself up in here. So the bars were not blue.

Purple it was then.

Sometimes, Natsuki fought; she rattled the purple bars, she screamed, she strived to get through, to break them. Once, she had succeeded. When the creator of the bars was far away, when the face her body wore that wasn't her, but created by the same spell that wove the cage around her, was sleepy… Diva. Her middle name, that bastard had taken her middle name, her precious middle name, and given it to the imposter who used her body.

That bastard? Which bastard? Oh, yes. Amshel. Amshel was that bastard, _the_ bastard, the barstardiest bastard of all the bastards in the world. Because it was him, wasn't it? Him who locked her up; yet cruelly put windows in her cage.

Useless windows they were, inconstant. Sometimes she could see through the windows, through the eyes that were hers but she couldn't control, and sometimes she couldn't.

Sometimes she saw her stolen hands ripping toys, games, books and people to shreds. Sometimes she heard the screams of the people whom Diva killed. Sometimes she felt her fangs slipping into veins and arteries. Sometimes she tasted the blood gushing down her throat. Sometimes she smelt death.

And sometimes she didn't. But whether she could see or no, she could never stop it. She was an observer trapped in her own body, and she was powerless to stop Diva's mindless destruction.

But sometimes she got through. Only briefly. She remembered a white carpet, a sky blue dress, her dark hair, and hands with fingers. Such a small thing. Such a wondrous thing. When she moved them, they moved. But Diva was coming back. So she let it out. She didn't know who had been there, if anybody had heard her, understood her, _her_, not Diva. She didn't know if anyone had heard Natsuki.

But she sang anyway. Oh yes, she sang a song she had been singing inside for a very long time. There were many songs; angry ones that were more screaming and shouting than singing, sad ones that made her cry, evil ones that plotted revenge. But she sang a sweet song. About memories, about how even if she was in a cage, her memory was untouched, and when she slept, Saya was with her. She loved the long sleeps the most.

Sometimes, she could see through the windows.

The Zoo. Diva was at the Zoo. But, oh, it was so different! So changed, so run down. So old. How much time had passed since Amshel had put her in her cage? How… old was she? The thought terrified her, but she didn't focus on it for long; something was happening.

She fought to get closer to her senses, the purple of the bars fading to dull lavender under her assault. There. Now she could feel, hear, taste and smell as well as seeing, even if she couldn't control anything.

Something was in her arms -no, not _her _arms. _Diva's_ arms. Something was in Diva's arms. And Diva's fangs were buried in something… a neck, as per usual. An unusually young neck. She tasted the blood coursing down her throat, and was filled by a deep disgust at the pleasure it brought. It tasted _good_.

But he was only a boy… Suddenly, through Diva's senses, Natsuki felt the presence of someone approaching.

_Saya._

It was Saya. She was sure of it, and her heart leapt with such a sudden fierce joy that Diva's control slipped, and Natsuki made her own head lift, happiness shining through her eyes for a bare moment before the spell clamped down once more, with a painful throb of her breast bone.

Saya was opening the door.

"_Don't open it!_" She shrieked in her mind. "_Don't!_" Bad things are in here. Blood is in here. Don't. But Saya did, and Natsuki saw her through Diva for the first time. She saw the confusion, the fear, and understood that Saya did not remember her.

Was that good?

She didn't know. But Saya shouldn't be afraid of her… oh. Yes, Saya should be very afraid of _Diva_. Did Saya know that she was in here? Did she realise that this murderess who wore her skin was not her? They were twins. They shared the same soul. Surely Saya could tell?

"Ri…Riku…" Saya trembled, as Diva raised her head, her cerulean eyes glowing. Riku? Who's he? Natsuki wondered. Somebody precious to her… this boy! Surely…

Riku is loved by Saya. Diva is killing Riku.

Natsuki's course of action seemed clear; she fought. Harder than she'd ever fought before; because it was for her sister, and that gave her strength like nothing else.

_STOP IT NOW!_ She ranted, she yelled and screamed at Diva. _STOP DRAINING HIM! STOP DRINKING! STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!_ And finally she managed to break through again, just a little, enough to turn her head away from Riku's bleeding throat, to gently lay him down on the ground and step away, before Diva came back, angry.

Natsuki, spent, subsided into her cage again, quiet apart from her almost gentle sobbing. She didn't know what happened after that, the windows showed her nothing. She only knew that she hadn't saved Riku. She had only prolonged his death.

_Please. Please let that extra time be enough…_

-n/s-

My wish doesn't reach to the everlasting paradise

It is distorted with voices and keeps vanishing away

I want to make sure of the sound of your warmth with my hands,

Not hesitating to get hurt

-n/s-

_2006, Paris_

It was enough. Riku lived, though for a few days he was confined to a wheelchair due to weakness from loss of blood, but he lived. As a human. And for that, Saya was eternally grateful, but Diva's damage was done; Saya now regained her purpose from so many years before.

She finally accepted the fact that she was not a human, she finally became interested in recovering all of her memories; no longer as afraid of them. She remembered her mindless rampage, she remembered her days at the Zoo, in Russia, in France.

She remembered Natsuki.

And she remembered Diva. And her resolve strengthened. She would fight, she would kill Diva.

She remembered the promise.

She remembered those she had lost… David after David, Joel after Joel, person after person, family after family… Natsuki.

In France, they prepared; researching, following leads, fighting monsters, training. Saya's skill improved; was regained, but despite the heavy memories she now had, she still tried. Tried to be 'Saya' - the cheerful schoolgirl who was Kai and Riku's sister, George's daughter. She tried very hard to stay the same, right through until… ah. But first something else happened; the Schiff showed up once more, hunting Saya herself this time, not her chevalier.

They found her; with their senses it was not hard to track the group down. But Kai had befriended one of them, with startling results. Irene, a young, fresh faced girl with long blonde hair, was the next Schiff to befall the curse of the Thorn… but she hid it from her comrades, and only showed it to Kai when she explained where they had come from, how they had come to be there.

Kai told her she could ask for something; you didn't have to use violence to get what you wanted. She seemed so surprised, but both she and Kai convinced the other Schiff to ask Saya for her blood, and eventually Saya complied, still unsure about how her blood, that seemed so full of curses and had wrought so much destruction, could possibly help…

Irene died. She crumbled into jewel red pieces before everyone's eyes, and for a moment Hagi moved in front of Saya, afraid that the Schiff would attack them as retribution… but no. The lead Schiff, Moses, a dark haired youth who wore his hair over one eye, stopped his glasses-wearing friend Karman from attacking.

The Schiff realised that it was Diva's blood they needed, not Saya's, and so they left, taking the pieces of Irene with them. And Saya cried for another loss.

XXX

The next time Saya clashed paths with Diva was when Karl brought his queen to the Red Shield HQ. Diva, influenced by Natsuki's desire to see her sister, launched an attack on the grand boat that housed so much of the Red Shield, in essence.

The battle went on. Collateral damage piled up high, corpses and broken equipment and crates and pieces of walls. Blood splattered cables. Limb littered lifts.

Saya stayed behind, to fight her, allowing everyone else to escape in the helicopters. Kai's last view of his sister was Saya and Hagi standing, facing Diva and Karl, across the flames and plumes of smoke. And despite her glowing embers of eyes, she smiled at him gently like she used to.

"Goodbye, Kai, Riku."

"SAYA!" But the helicopter left, and minutes later the ship exploded.

-n/s-

_I will fight…_

-n/s-

_2007, London_

A year passed before Kai or any of the other Red Shield members saw Saya again. She saved them, out of the blue, rescuing Kai and Lewis from almost certain death at the hands of three chiropterans. But her year of separation had changed her; hardened her.

Her coat was purple.

But after a lot of persuasion, she joined the Red Shield once more; or rather, what was left of it. The core of the organisation had crumbled, after more than one hundred and thirty years, the 'Red Shield of Blood' had collapsed.

But the spirit, the role of the Red Shield was not broken. A Joel and a David still watched over Saya and Hagi. There were still people dedicated to locating and eliminating the threat known as 'Diva'.

Diva was in London too, preparing for a concert. The posters were everywhere; TV adverts flickered across England's screens. 'Diva, a singer like no other'. An eerily beautiful, creamy skinned girl, with such lustrous dark hair… and those eyes! Those blue eyes entranced you like nothing else, and then once you heard her sing, you were hooked. Nobody saw the purple bars of the cage inside those eyes.

Nobody saw summer's hope, withering away inside her own body.

-n/s-

I'll take the life of the roaring voice

Let it write and sleep to the end of the world

If I can't reach you after dissolving light

Then I'll just finish off this artificial paradise

With my own hands

-n/s-

_2007, New York_

Diva's concerts were all cancelled, probably due to the death of Karl at Saya's hands. The Schiff returned, with the promise to help in the hope of saving themselves.

Diva went to New York, and so Saya and the others followed her there, and it was in New York, the city that never sleeps, that it all came to fruition, and then all came tumbling down.

They hadn't been in New York for very long when they discovered that Saya's long sleep; her thirty-year hibernation period that both she and her sister suffered from every few years, was approaching rapidly.

It was the red eyed girl's determination that kept her awake for so long. She would win. This time, this time for sure, she would end it all. She was so close. Her determination was astounding; the events at Christina Island showed that.

Diva's chevalier James Ironside was not unattractive in his human form, but as with many chiropterans that changed when he transformed; an ugly, dark brown thing with red fires for eyes, his skin was like iron. Oh, the irony. How it made Saya laugh inside.

Her sword scratched off, bullets ricocheted, and yet she did not give up; she continued attacking. Eventually, with the help of Hagi and the Schiff, James was infected; her blood entered his revealed, torn muscles with almost sickening cracks.

There was a sinkhole on Christina Island. James ran for that, even as his foot turned to stone, even as his arm began to crackle. His good arm grabbed Saya; if he was going to die, then he was going to take her with her… and he would take Kai too, since he had grabbed onto Saya and would not let go. Hagi was injured, a gaping hole in his chest chaining him to the floor, but for once he wasn't needed.

Solomon saved them. Swooped in like a dashing, unattractive monster prince. What was his reason? Why did he save her?

"Because I fell in love with you." His pale blue eyes gleam, a gentle breeze ruffles the blonde curls that adorn his head. "Would that be a sufficient answer?"

-n/s-

_Please sing…_

-n/s-

_2007, North Carolina_

A concert, to an Army base in North Carolina. It was a trap; it had to be. But even if it was a trap, they had to go… they couldn't afford to ignore even the most obviously dangerous of clues.

So they went, all of them; Saya, Hagi, Kai, Riku, Lewis, David, Mao and Okamura; a journalist and Kai's old obsessive girlfriend who had been following Saya's trail from thirty years ago and finally caught up with them in Paris.

Every single last one of them went, and Diva was there as well. And Amshel. And Nathan. James was dead, Solomon had been described jauntily as 'AWOL' by Nathan.

And the twins clashed yet again; but this time Saya never got close to her sister. Amshel stopped her, and broke her arm; while Kai looked on helpless in the face of the chiropterans, Hagi rendered equally useless trapped in Nathan's arms.

When Saya's wrist finally broke with a bloody crunch, Nathan very nearly lost control. He very nearly attacked Amshel right there for hurting his queen - for he viewed both Natsuki and Saya to be his mistresses. They were twins, they shared his servitude as one.

But he very nearly broke his cover… he came so close, he was sweating, but he didn't have to move. If he hadn't been able to sense Solomon approaching, Nathan really thought he would have slaughtered Amshel right there.

But Solomon was approaching. And he saved her; cleverly, too. He aimed for Diva, and predictably Amshel let go of the red eyed queen to protect the blue one, and Solomon was able to scoop up Saya's limp body, still clothed in purple, and fly away with her.

He took her to his apartment; a penthouse with a spectacular view of the city, and he confessed. Properly. Did you know there are so many wonderful things in this world you have yet to see? Did you know that I want to show you it? Let us travel around it, through it, all over it, let us not fight anymore…

But he underestimated Hagi. It seemed that everybody underestimated Hagi at least once, but he always proved them wrong. Even Saya had underestimated him. He played that cello piece so often so perfectly it was sometimes annoying; it sounded like mockery. She understood that he played it because it was a piece of her; a piece of happiness, but sometimes she was sure that he was revelling in the fact that he could play it better than she ever could.

Solomon did not expect Hagi to find his queen so quickly, but he did. The two chevaliers fought for Saya, and Saya herself was too weak, too sleepy, too injured to stop them; they ignored her shouts and she could not follow their bounding leaps in her weakened state. It was only when her knees gave out, and she began to hurtle towards the pavement so many floors below that either chevalier took notice of her.

Hagi reached her first. He would always reach her first, even if he had to kill people, even if he had to push boundaries that should never be pushed, even if he had to break promises, unleash deadly powers… his chiropteran form.

Not so disgusting, so fully formed and beast like as any of the others. Indeed, it could almost be called elegant; graceful, curving bat-like wings that beat the air slowly, and gently lowered himself, with Saya in his arms, to the ground unharmed. His hands were both monster like; the one that was usually human in appearance joining the other.

And he apologised. He apologised to Saya for breaking his vow to never show her something so disgusting. But she had already forgiven him. She would always forgive him.

Solomon didn't understand, poor boy. But I can give you that dream; the dream you once had to travel around the world… Saya looked back at him, with a soft smile on her face, and shook her head.

"You don't understand… that dream, that dream is useless without her." And she turned and began to walk away, ignoring Solomon's hand outstretched to her.

"Who? I don't understand!" He cried, and this time it was Hagi who answered him.

"Natsuki. Saya's dream… was to travel the world with Natsuki." And Solomon didn't know who Natsuki was.

-n/s-

**I pray to protect this bright world**

I fight to put this to an end

**Where everyone can smile**

I saw you crying alone

**A song of hope to light the way to tomorrow**

A song of despair of shadow to bury the past

**Giving my life to it, I sing vigorously**

Your existence stolen from me, your voice ceases

**Let my voice float with the wind till I die…**

I will collect the never-ending rain till I die…

-n/s-

_2007, the MET, New York_

It was the final showdown. Solomon was dead, all of the Schiff except a young girl named Lulu were dead, James was dead, Karl was dead.

And finally, finally it had come to it. Diva's concert. The MET, New York. The quiet, hushed crowd; so bedazzled with jewels that the jewellery encrusted ladies flashed whenever they moved. Even the men had sparkles gleaming at their cuffs, at their throats, the light dancing on the surface of watches, like the broken one that Joel IV clutched in his hand; one that had been passed down through the generations along with the name 'Joel Goldschmidt'. It was the very first Joel's watch, which Saya's numb fingers had closed around as he died, and when she was wrenched away from his body, the watch chain snapped and the artefact had come with her. When it had cracked, only Saya knew; when the second Joel had been slaughtered by Diva.

But as Joel gazed down at the watch, unknowing as he was of the details of his bloody history, he felt that this time, this time it would end. He looked up, snapping the cover down on the old surface, as David entered, his hand in his jacket and resting on the gun that was as much a family heirloom as Joel's watch; the Bloody Rose.

Again handed down through the generations of hunters who had served the Red Shield, it carried with it a history just as bloody. Joel met David's eyes; and saw there not only a subordinate, not only a comrade, but a friend.

"It's going to end this time." David nodded his affirmative. Everyone was in position; exactly where they were supposed to be. David, Okamura, Kai and Joel in his wheelchair watching; the more able bodied poised to help.

Julia and Mao were back at the apartment monitoring things from there. Lewis and Lulu on watch outside. And the most important pieces; the Queen and the Knight, Saya and Hagi, were backstage, waiting for their opportunity to engage Diva.

-n/s-

_History repeats itself…_

-n/s-

_2007, the MET, New York_

Saya and Hagi were delayed. Amshel disguised himself as his queen, and it was only when Diva's song began filtering through the curtains to backstage that they realised he was an imposter. Hagi let Saya pass, facing the terrifyingly stronger Amshel by himself. His wings exploded from his back, but Amshel was that much more powerful.

He had the strange, unique ability to create a laser beam of purple energy and aim it at his opponent, an ability made only stronger by his transformation into his ugly, bulky, huge purple bestial form. Their battle was not nearly as one sided as one would have thought; Hagi's dexterous fighting ability keeping him alive for a long time.

Their fight took them up into the air; kept there by their wings, through the ceiling of the MET and into the storm of rain and lightening. Their battle went on; with grievous injuries to both sides. But the most grievous were definitely to Hagi.

But Saya did not see any of it; she had rushed past and onto the stage, as the audience began to transform into chiropterans, willed on by Diva's eerie singing and the nucleotide extracted from the blue queen's blood coursing through her veins.

Saya came too late to save any of the audience members. But she arrived.

-n/s-

**All voices encounter light and lead to shadow**

**In this repeating history**

The thumping sound of the infinite world resounds

To declare the end

-n/s-

Diva was dressed in a dark dress; a simple sheathe of shadow that fell to the floor in waves, contrasted only by the darker shade of her hair; also loose and swinging by her thighs. Saya by contrast was in pink; a strappy, pale dress accompanied by a white scarf and gloves.

Both were dressed for the theatre, performer and audience member respectively. But they could fight.

Saya clasped her sword; her precious ridged katana with its green and blue handle, and she held it in front of her, ready to clash blades with her sister's; who held a rapier, befitting of her character; matching the set of the crumbling tower of Diva.

They exchanged words along with their blows; but they were of little importance. Petty quibbles that only strengthened their resolves, they soon destroyed their clothes to ease their movement, and loaded their blades with blood; a deadly poison to their opponent.

"I have nothing more to say to you." Saya snapped, her eyes beginning to glow with unnatural light. Diva raised her head, her own eyes shining a beautiful blue.

"Nor I to you."

-n/s-

_All lives end and grow back again_

_In a paradise of light and shadow_

_Let my wish reach there…_

* * *

><p><strong>Hello! Right, I'm so very sorry for the really late update, and I apologise especially to Princesa de la Luna, who hasn't heard from me in... months. I'm so sorry! However, I have had a really awful time of it recently when it comes to writing; this chapter is really long (almost 30 pages) so it was always going to take me a while, and then I went to India, which was brilliant but sadly lacking in the laptop and internet departement, naturally, and then I was ill, then computer troubles - my password messed up, which took an INSANELY long time to sort out, but hopefully I'm back for a while longer now! But again; I apologise to everybody for the long wait.<strong>

**Okay, this chapter is basically a summary of the events of the Blood+ anime, with subtle changes (Riku didn't transform or die, Diva didn't get pregnant and then the other added bits from this story), and it's alternated with two songs from the Vocaloid Synchronicity series; firstly 'Looking for You in the Sky' by Kagamine Len (sung by Saya in this) and then 'Paradise of Light and Shadows' by Kagamine Rin and Len (sung by Natsuki and Saya alternately in this.) The usual applies; bold = Natsuki, **normal = Saya **and **_italics = both_**. Natsuki's parts are all supposed to be sung by her inside, not the persona Diva, just to be clear. The other song Natsuki sings is part of 'Dolls' by Kagamine Rin.**

**Sorry again for the really long wait, but I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading, and please review! XD**

***kamaitachi = sharp slashes - use fans or limbs to create wind and slash the enemy. Can make slashes with one hand only, but slashes created with both hands crossed are very effective. This move is effective against objects as well as people. Can also just blow the enemy away instead of slashing them. - Source = Vampire Knight Official Fanbook.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"I have nothing more to say to you."

"Nor I to you."

-n/s-

The storm that raged war across the sky not only hid the sounds of battle, but also reflected it. Lightening streaked across the sky, closely followed by the rumbling of thunder that perfectly masked the crashes as Hagi was sent, not for the first time, flying into a building. Glass shattering around him, he only just avoided being impaled yet again by Amshel, taking off desperately across the swollen purple sky.

The haze of the storm that covered the entire city appeared to be doing an excellent job of masking the sight of two chiropterans battling it out across the sky. Either that, or New Yorkers were more oblivious than Hagi had originally thought.

As he dodged and weaved around the tall buildings, the fight tipped in both directions, the upper hand slipping from one to the other, but mostly it was Hagi who was on the defensive, trying to stay alive and seeking a gap in Amshel's relentless attack. He already had gaping holes in his chest, which bled copiously even as the skin and muscle struggled to knit itself back together.

Amshel reached out with a grotesquely bulky purple hand, purple light collecting in his palm as he once more aimed for Hagi's chest. The blast sent him drifting across the sky, his outstretched wings saving him once more from immediate plummet despite the fact he could temporarily feel nothing of his body but the burning agony in his torso.

His opponent opened his mouth, letting out an even bigger blast of lightening like electricity, which brought the metallic taste of blood to Hagi's mouth, ears and nose, the strength of it pushing him backwards.

He narrowly avoided colliding with one of the lower metal spikes of the Chrysler building, managing to catch it with one hand and so he hung there, strength failing, panting. It was a miracle he was even still conscious, never mind the lightening fast movement he managed to execute to avoid the next blast of purple lightening, which destroyed the metal in his stead.

Amshel and Hagi hung there softly, facing each other across the expanse of empty sky, Hagi's eyes just as shielded as they had been at the start of their fight.

"There's no use running away." Amshel rumbled, and Hagi's eyes narrowed minutely. "Haven't you noticed?" Amshel queried, diving suddenly at Hagi again, who dodged. The blue streaks of their movements twisted across the sky, caught in a macabre dance of life and death. Each time their burning tails touched an explosion of light burst, the air crackling with the energy of their movements.

Finally, finally, Hagi's speed and litheness began to pay off. He struck blow after blow, tearing one of Amshel's mottled purple shoulder blades clean off, but Amshel still declared that Hagi's efforts were 'not good enough', in much the same way Saya used to, and once again used his strange power of purple electricity to his advantage.

This time, Hagi did not run away.

In an almost perfectly synchronised movement, they both dove for the other's left side, aiming for the wing and hoping to disable the other by handicapping their ability to fly.

Both succeeded, although with Amshel's much larger hand span he managed to take Hagi's arm off as well. With another crackle of lightening, two torn wings and an arm tumbled down to earth. Briefly, Hagi wondered what the people who found them would think, or if the US Government would cover it up again.

Then there was no more time for randomly errant observations, because with a growl Amshel lunged forwards, and Hagi retaliated with a push downwards, beginning to send them down to the earth's surface.

"Like this, do you hope to ram me down into the earth's surface?" Amshel growled, any emotion he was feeling hidden by the hazy sheen of red glowing battle lust in his eyes. "You and I will not die from such an impact!" Grimly amused, Amshel began to laugh as Hagi began to increase their speed with his singular remaining right wing.

But Hagi had the last laugh, so to speak, for even Saya knew that he wasn't so stupid as to attempt to kill a chevalier with a fall. But impaling him on the tallest spike of the Chrysler building? Worth a shot.

Even in his chiropteran form, a hint of shock was still discernible on Amshel's ugly face as the spike suddenly shot up through his abdomen. Determinedly, Hagi shoved him further down the spike, before a flash of lightening forced him to let go. He half tumbled, half flew through the air before alighting almost delicately upon a lower ridge of the building, stumbling as the severity of his injuries hit him in a wave of pain.

Both his right arm and wing had been torn off, and there was still a gaping hole in his chest that stubbornly refused to heal properly. Yet despite this, Hagi did not fall, but managed to stay on his feet, staggering backwards in his attempts to stay upright. A tinkling shattering sound echoed, momentarily overriding the rushing sound of his blood in his ears, as Amshel dug his talons into the spike and began to gruesomely pull himself upwards.

His blood tinting the metal and giving the silver a bloody sheen, he continued to drag himself up, his tissues gurgling in protest. Hagi raised his head, watching with something like resigned despair as Amshel met his gaze with faceted red eyes.

"This is futile." Amshel muttered; the strain in his voice the only hint as to how badly the experience of extracting himself from a large metal spike was affecting him. Given that Amshel was almost as good at hiding his feelings as Hagi was, Hagi noted this with some satisfaction.

Lightening struck.

Lights went out in the surrounding blocks, the top halves of buildings winking out nanoseconds before the lower levels also plunged into darkness. Down below in the theatre, the lights also flickered out, only to be replaced by a dim but steady glow as backup generators kicked in.

The bright, recurring flashes as the electrical charge struck twice more temporarily blinded Hagi, who blinked to try and get rid of the lights dancing behind his eyes. When his sight finally cleared, even his expressionless face was driven to shock.

The lightening had fried him. Previously a bulky, purple beast gushing blood, Amshel was now a brown, crackling corpse. Hagi had won.

"Saya!"

-n/s-

Saya dove at Diva, but she knocked her katana away with an air of not only grace but also ease. The twins once again separated, before rushing back to meet each other in another clash of ringing blades that echoed through the theatre, reaching even Hagi's ears as he stumbled against the wall in one of the many corridors leading to the seating area.

Panting, he used the wall to haul himself upright once more, determined to reach Saya even if it killed him. Step by agonising step, he inched closer to the door to the auditorium, and he finally reached it. Sickened by the thought of having to wrench the door open with only one weakened arm, he paused, sparing a breath to chuckle at the thought. He had been fighting off monsters for years, and yet here he was trembling at the thought of opening a door.

War did strange things to people, Hagi had noticed. He need only look at Saya for proof of that.

His attention was drawn abruptly back to the real world, snatched away from his private reflection by the gentle click of the door. It was a double door, as was common in many grander theatres, and the other side of it, the side that Hagi thankfully wasn't leaning on, was opening.

He stared inscrutably up at Nathan, a blonde, curly haired chevalier of Diva's who was without a doubt the campest man Hagi had ever met. They had clashed in battle only once, briefly, but all Hagi really knew about him was that he was a little odd and had rather girlish tendencies.

So when Nathan silently held the door open for Hagi, gesturing for him to go through with a wink, Hagi honestly did not know what to do other than obey. When he entered the theatre, he saw his queen exchanging bone shattering blows with Natsu… Diva.

Even after all of this time, Hagi could not forget the laughing childhood friend in his memories. And he knew that it was even harder for Saya. He made to start forwards, grimacing at the sharp jabs of pain that it caused him, but Nathan gently held an arm out, his expression sombre.

"The duel between the two queens alone… I am here to see that through to the end." Nathan murmured, and as Hagi pulled himself upright, his half-broken fighting stance relaxed.

"As am I." He agreed, and together the two watched as the queens exchanged blows. They tore their clothes to enable easier movement, their faces set even as sweat dripped. Muscles bunched and relaxed, swords swinging so fast that the air rang with vibrations.

And Hagi and Nathan probably would have watched, unmoving until the end, captured by the deadly dance that Saya and Diva were performing for them, if not for Amshel.

It all came down to that one vampire.

Back in his 'human' form, though how he had regained his clothes after ripping them to shreds in his earlier transformation would always be a mystery, (later, he would envision Amshel hiding spare suits sneakily around the theatre in blue plastic bags), it was suddenly him who blocked Saya's sweeping slash, and not Diva. Instantly, it was if a spell had been broken. As Amshel gently took Diva's blood laden sword, with a grim smile, it was as if with the involvement of another chevalier, Hagi was free to move, and despite his injuries he moved faster than he ever had before, appearing in front of his queen with a blue flash just in time for the rapier to sink itself to the hilt in his chest, the burst of blood that spurted from the wound a mix of both his own and Diva's.

Dread suddenly clenched his gut as he realised that despite his actions, Saya had been too close behind him to have been able to avoid the rapier's deadly tip, and with growing trepidation, he turned his head to look behind him, afraid of what he would find.

But Saya was nowhere near the wavering, bloodied tip of the sword. She was several metres away, staring at the person who had impossibly managed to move faster than Hagi, pick her up and take her to safety.

Without a word, Nathan released Saya from his arms, his gaze still fixed sorrowfully on Hagi. He closed his eyes in apparent apology, regret flaring in their blue irises.

"Nathan! I should have known!" Amshel growled, and Nathan looked up, smiling.

"I have been waiting a long time for this, Amshel. To finally give you what you deserve. You took them away, and killed countless people with their blood, all for your own selfish desires." Amshel took an involuntary step back as Nathan advanced, eyes glowing, drawing the sword from Hagi's chest with a squelch. Hagi gasped and dropped to his knees, his only remaining hand coming up to touch the hole.

"HAGI!" Saya's scream burst from her seemingly without conscious thought; she dove for him, her arms encircling his wide shoulders as far as she could, worry creasing her face.

"Are you going to kill me? Nathan Mahler." Nathan smiled grimly.

"I'm going to do much worse. You're now a chiropteran, but before that, you were a vampire… I'm sure you've heard the phrase 'revenge of the purebloods'." Neither Saya nor Hagi knew what Nathan was talking about, but Amshel clearly did; his face paled and his eyes widened.

"You mean… you're…" His voice trailed off, stuttering, but Nathan understood his question.

"Yes. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Nathan Mahler, servant and companion to the Kuran family… and you, my dear Amshel, have hurt both of my new mistresses. For that you will pay. For Diva, you will pay, for Saya, for Natsuki, even for Juri, Haruka and as always… for Mary. Prepare yourself." Amshel gasped some more, the name 'Kuran' echoing around the room. His eyes flickered back to where Diva stood, and there his gaze remained; on his young 'queen'.

"Natsuki… Diva… _Kuran_." He murmured, and was answered by a small, grim chuckle from Nathan, while Saya's red eyes flickered from person to person; from the prostrate Hagi lying in her arms, to the mysterious Nathan who had just saved her life, to her enemy Amshel, and to her sister, her other half, her twin, and then back to Hagi again in an endless circle.

Diva was shaking, but other than that she was not moving; she seemed almost unable to, as if a battle was waging behind the glassy surfaces of her glowing eyes. Her birthmark flared, and Saya's ruby eyes flickered up to it, her hand coming up to touch her own as she did so, before suddenly a large, purple mark appeared, glowing and pulsing, twisting with grotesque power. Nathan's eyes narrowed, while Saya gasped.

"What… what is that?" She whispered, and while Diva's trembling grew ever more violent, Amshel answered, almost absentmindedly, as they watched.

"It's a spell. I placed it upon Natsuki to seal her personality away, and allow me to control her. I called her Diva… the spell is old though, because she was supposed to be very compliant, a living doll, so to speak. But she is insane; her temperament unbalanced, her desires difficult and ever changing."

"That was because she was fighting back. You never noticed, did you? Natsuki has been fighting your spell, all of this time… it drove 'Diva' insane." Nathan said softly, while tears began to collect in the corners of Saya's wide eyes.

"Then… she's still in there?" She cried, hope flaring to life in her eyes before she could stop it; the hope that, after all she'd been through, those happy days with her sister were still within her reach, she could have them back, have Natsuki back…

"Yes." Everyone froze, muscles locking into place with shock as Diva answered. Her dark head was bowed, and while the mark of the spell was still there, it had frozen, no longer fluxing fluidly as it had been but as transfixed as everyone else. 'Diva' raised her head, her eyes still glowing, even as her tears began to fall. A gentle blue light ignited at the base of her throat as her necklace, still around her neck despite Amshel's attempts to remove it, began to glow.

And then she screamed.

What happened next, none of them would ever be able to describe accurately. There was a flash of blue light, and then there was a monster; a great, huge purple beast with many heads, like a hydra. Despite its colouring, this purple was almost… safe. Lilac, not prune. Different, but not dangerous like Amshel. Rather, dangerous _to_ Amshel.

One of its many head swooped down and with a crunch, snapped Amshel's body in half… and then it disappeared, leaving the much smaller humanoid creatures blinking in the rain. Amshel's stump of a body remained standing for several long seconds, while everyone, even Hagi, stared at it. Then with a delicate crack, it crumbled into white sand.

Nathan relaxed, and walked up to the pile with a curious expression on his face.

"So, in the end, even you were still more vampire than chiropteran…" He murmured. He raised his eyes, and saw Natsuki, not Diva, staring at him in shock, swaying gently, before she too, like Hagi, fell to her knees. She clutched her head, shaking again, and one long agonising scream was drawn out of her, before with a snap, like a rubber band pinging back into place, the ugly purple tattoo on her collarbone flashed briefly, and cracked off.

The spell was broken.

-n/s-

Natsuki had been watching. The whole time. At first, there were no windows, but Natsuki resolutely went on reaching, until finally she could see. She cried. More than she ever had before, and she screamed every single time 'Diva' exchanged blows with her sister.

She didn't think she could be any angrier with Amshel than she already was.

But when he took 'Diva's blood soaked sword, when he made for Saya, she snapped. She had never felt such hatred, and it exploded out of her along with all of her grief and fear and love for her sister, in an unstoppable tide that 'Diva' could not fight against. 'Diva' did not understand the strength of such emotions, and she was powerless in the face of them.

Natsuki broke through, and she saw what had happened instantly. Hagi had leapt in front of Saya, taking the stab for her. Nathan had also moved, she saw with interest, and he had snatched her sister completely out of harm's way.

"Then… she's still in there?" Saya. Her sister. Finally, she could hear her through ears that were truly hers. And joy exploded in a second flood of emotion as Natsuki realised that Saya knew. She _knew_ that Natsuki was still there.

"Yes." She answered. She spoke for the first time in over a hundred and fifty years. And then she screamed, letting all of it out. Every single thing she had thought or felt over that unbearably long time spent in her cage, she let it out.

She didn't know what happened after that, only that it felt as if a floodgate had been temporarily opened, revealing a deep well of scary power that Natsuki had never known she possessed. Then she blacked out, fading back into the darkness with a broken sob, filled with despair and panic that she was losing control of her own body again.

"Natsuki! Natsuki, can you hear me?" She groaned softly, and heard a gasp of relief. "Natsuki, open your eyes. Please open your eyes!" Pleading. Slowly, painfully, Natsuki did so, wincing at the sudden harshness.

"Saya…" Saya's tearstained face swam into view, but through her tears, Saya was smiling.

"Yes! Oh, Natsuki I've missed you so much!" Natsuki blinked several times, trying to clear her sight, and as she did so she became aware of the light pattering of rain upon her face, and the fact that she was being cradled by her twin, who was now hugging her tightly. Her fingers twitched spasmodically, but the nerves connected, and they were _hers_.

She hugged her back, and when Kai arrived on stage, the sight that met his eyes was almost more than his confused brain could handle. Saya was embracing the person that he only knew as Diva, and 'Diva', was hugging her back. Hagi was watching with a gentle smile on his face from the floor, his remaining hand clutching futilely at the hole in his chest.

"What…" he muttered, and his gun fell to the ground with a clatter which made the trio jump, Saya turning to face him and yet keeping her arms around her twin, and her face was shining with such happiness that it shocked Kai to the very core. He had known Saya before she remembered everything, when she was still carefree, and he had thought he had seen her at her happiest.

But all of those smiles, unhindered by centuries of painful memories, could not compare to the raw joy that had graced her face now. A similar expression was on 'Diva's face, which confused him so much he had to sit down, abruptly, on the wet grass of the set.

"Kai, this is Natsuki. Natsuki, this is Kai Miyagusuku, my adoptive brother… He's the son of the man who was looking after me when I didn't remember anything, George…" 'Natsuki', as she was apparently now known, blinked in confusion, before she bobbed her head at him in greeting.

"Nice to meet you… Kai Miyagusuku… Thank you for taking care of my sister." She whispered, sincerity like nothing Diva had ever displayed ringing through her quiet voice. Suddenly she frowned, looking so much like a paler, blue eyed version of Saya when she didn't understand something that it hurt, and Kai was hit with the sudden realisation that 'Diva', the person against whom they had been fighting for so long, the person who had so nearly drained his little brother, was a completely different person to the 'Natsuki' who sat before him in Saya's arms now.

"Natsuki, what's wrong?" Saya asked anxiously, as Natsuki muttered to herself.

"Miyagusuku… Ah! Riku! Riku, he was your little brother, wasn't he? Is he okay? Is he alive? Oh… it was horrible, so horrible Saya, I could see it, I could feel it happening, but I couldn't stop… I couldn't stop her, she kept drinking… Diva kept drinking, I couldn't stop her… I tried so hard, but I don't know if it was enough! Is he okay! ?" She cried, tears beginning to fall once more as she clutched at her sister in worry, and after a brief moment of surprise, Saya smiled softly, and stroked her twin's cheek.

"Thank you, Natsuki. You stopped her in time, Riku is alive and well. He's back at the apartment, with Julia and Mao… Oh! There are so many people I have to introduce you to, Natsuki, so many friends!" Saya exclaimed gleefully, and Natsuki giggled.

"Then… I'll get to meet them all, later…" She asked tentavely. It was a notion of a future action, a promise of sorts, of a plan of something happening beyond the MET. Neither of them had ever expected it, and they hugged each other again, ecstatic.

Closing her eyes, Natsuki breathed in Saya's scent; a smell she had grown up with, the smell of safety. And she felt it immediately when Saya opened her mouth, recognising with an age old instinct like only the pair of them could that Saya was going to sing to her.

"Just one thing doesn't change despite it all,

That dream I painted remains

How do I appear to you now?

With our young eyes back then, it was such a different world

Hey, look up, it's such a vast night sky

See that, so you can understand,

You will shine at your best soon, so hurry

With me, look for the full moon."

"Let's sing a song,

Together forever, we can do everything for you right now

Day by day

Your destiny until now, from tomorrow, clutch your hopes to your chest

Let's sing a song,

Together forever, if I'm with you I can overcome any hardship

More and more,

More and more and more I want to be closer, please stay right here,

So many things to say to you," And Natsuki felt the tune in her blood, and she joined in, astounding the members of the Red Shield who still watched from the wings, bamboozling Kai and bringing another smile to Hagi's face as their voices joined and twined around each other, echoing around the theatre with an almost heartbreaking happiness.

"**Wondrous chance** **meetings**

**As long as they keep happening**

**We have ever more precious memories**

**All those days full of mischief**

**Now I can laugh and love them with you**

**That's right, I always yearned for the stage**

**But it's better with you by my side**

**Everyone is full of smiles**

**Because this is where I am.**"

"_Let's sing a song,_

_Tonight, rather than the spotlight, it's me that will shine now_

_Day by day_

_Those passionate looks and cheers shine upon my smile_

_Let's sing a song_

_Tonight I want to believe there are never ending things in this world_

_More and more_

_More and more and more I want to scream this song out, this dream will never end,_"

"Let's sing a song,

**Forever and forever,**

_Let's sing a song,_

**Forever and forever**

This is a song for you."

They held each other as close as was physically possible, the last traces of their echoing song resounding across the air, and Natsuki opened her eyes in unison with Saya, blue and red.

"Hagi!" Saya turned with a gasp upon Natsuki's cry as she spotted the very still form of their friend, on the floor.

Saya was on her feet in an instant and by his side in the next, Natsuki hot on her heels.

"Hagi, no, no, no, Hagi, please!" Crying again, Saya clasped his hand, even as fingers of stone began to creep along their elegant length. Natsuki reached out to touch his face, her own tears falling once more.

"Hagi, I'm so sorry…" She sobbed, and when he smiled at her in forgiveness, it only made her tears fall harder. Saya's own hands replaced Natsuki's as her twin sat back, recognising the moment as being one between the Saya and Hagi who loved each other.

"Saya. Live. I always wanted… to see you smile like you did… back then." Saya let out a broken sob, clenching Hagi's hand tighter.

"Hagi."

"I'm so glad… that you… can be with Natsuki again. Natsuki… welcome back." He breathed, and Natsuki bowed her head, trying not to shake.

"Saya… I love you. Nankuranaisa." Saya gasped, curling over him with another sob.

"Hagi, Hagi, Hagi, Hagi, no, you can't die, Hagi, please, I love you, please please stay with me, Hagi…" The words slipped from her in a broken moan, continuing even through her sobs as Hagi raised his hand to touch her cheek. Still crying, she opened her eyes and met his gaze.

They stared at each other for almost a full minute, the only sounds the cracking noises as Hagi solidified into stone.

Then Saya closed her eyes, more tears slipping from beneath her lashes, and bent down to kiss him lightly.

Hagi smiled at her again, before his hand dropped, and his heart ceased beating.

-n/s-

Natsuki was the first one to move; stepping forwards once more and dropping to her knees, her arms coming up to encircle her sister in comfort. Saya, eyes still shut and tears still seeping noiselessly from beneath her closed lids, leant back against her, lower lip trembling.

"Saya!" David was approaching the stage, gun in hand and Lewis hot on his heels. They skidded to a stop on the stage, staring at the scene; Natsuki holding Saya in an embrace that could not be described as anything but affectionate, Kai sitting on the damp grass of the set, a pile of white sand and the stone body of Hagi.

"What on earth…" Lewis mumbled. David had seen everything play out, but Lewis had been stationed outside, and was clearly confused. He didn't ask though, when David shot him a look that clearly said 'no _time_'.

"Saya, Kai… Natsuki," Natsuki's eyes widened, David looking slightly uncomfortable at the use of her name, but didn't comment. "The American government are going to bomb the MET. We have to get out of here." A small pause greeted his words, before they exploded into action, both Natsuki and Saya on their feet with blue blurs of movement and Kai struggling to stand and scrambling for his gun at the same time.

"Wait." Kai, half way down the stairs, paused and looked back at Saya when she spoke; her voice hard and unforgiving. "I'm taking Hagi with me."

"Saya, we can't!" Kai pleaded, desperate, and David frowned back at them.

"Saya, there's no time. You'll have to leave him here." Saya stopped walking, and Natsuki was pulled to a halt as well by their linked hands.

"I'm not leaving without him." She repeated stubbornly, and Natsuki turned back, scrutinising her gaze for a moment before she nodded.

"I'll help." Swiftly, they both returned to Hagi's body, slipping their hands gently underneath it and lifting it; a feat that would have been impossible without their vampiric strength.

"Nathan…" Both girls stared at the man as he appeared by their sides, taking control of Hagi's body and lifting it onto his back before either of them could react.

"Go. I'll bring him."

"Why-"

"No time! Go!" Nathan barked, and reluctantly Saya turned on her heels and followed her sister, her adoptive brother and the rest of her team out of the MET.

Bare minutes after they left the vicinity, the bomb detonated, reducing the once grand and beautiful theatre to a pile of decorative rubble. Nobody would notice the strange, pale sand mixed in with the stones, and nobody would see the blood.

-n/s-

Nathan stood back from the edge of the building, humming to himself thoughtfully. Down below in the street, the Red Shield's van had drawn up outside the apartment block, people spilling out of both the vehicle and the building. The stone body of Hagi, intact, he suspected, purely because Hagi had been more human, at the end of the day, than chiropteran, was in the back seat, covered by a blanket.

And unlike the majority of Diva's chevaliers, Hagi had been human originally, not vampire like himself and Amshel and Solomon, not level-E like Karl and James had been. Those two had been interesting; James's slightly higher level as a level-E than Karl had allowed 'Diva's blood to restore his sanity. It hadn't worked out so well with Karl, though he hadn't been helped by Amshel's attitude towards him.

Nathan paused in his train of thought briefly as he leapt across to the next building's roof, but resumed almost as soon as he landed; Natsuki.

Natsuki, Natsuki, Natsuki.

Or more specifically, that huge purple hydra type creature that had appeared when Natsuki's temper snapped, prompted by her glowing necklace. Out of all the strange events this evening, _that_ was the most interesting, in Nathan's opinion.

He doubted that anyone else would remember it well, strung high with stress and relief, memories hazy with the strength of the emotions. But he remembered it. Oh, he remembered it.

"Mary… you minx. Did you really use that?" He murmured, a slow smirk spreading across his face, before with a shake of his head he sped up. "I should've known you would. You always did like to do the unexpected."

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everybody! I'm so sorry for the delay with this chapter; I don't know if anybody's still left to read it! I had some personal issues when it came to this story, so it has been a while. However, now I am hopefully back on track, and the next few chapters are written in advance already - you'll definitely be getting another update soon!<strong>

**I hope everybody enjoyed it, and thank you so so so so insanely much for all of the wonderful reviews, story alerts and favourites - I treasure every single one of you, and I'm sorry again for the wait.**

**Please review! XD**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

If you had asked Kai to describe the years since he'd come home one day to find Saya kneeling on the floor, face stained with red, a bloody katana clenched in her hand and the crystallised body of a beast, dead by her hand, in front of her, he probably would have said '_like a whirlwind_'.

The storm like-nature of those years of fighting, of watching his sister struggle with her identity, with her memories, with the life of blood that she had apparently chosen, was however nothing in the face of the last two weeks.

Firstly, he'd watched Hagi die, and yeah maybe he'd never been especially chummy with the guy, but he'd still liked him. And liked the way he treated Saya. It was never easy to watch people die, and to be honest Kai missed him. He kept turning around and expecting to find him there, obnoxiously large cello case on his back.

Secondly, apparently 'Diva' was a fake persona, driven mad by Saya's _real_ sister, who'd been locked inside her own body by an ancient vampire spell. And Natsuki was real; cheeky in a less obvious way than Saya was, almost unbearably sweet and shy. It was slightly mindboggling to try and reconcile the two different images, and he still started whenever he caught sight of her; his first instinct was still to reach for his gun and push Riku behind him. He couldn't help feeling suspicious.

Thirdly, Saya. Saya who laughed like he'd never seen her laugh before, with her twin, Saya who ran around the Omoro excitedly, who introduced Natsuki to everyone, who _sang_, she'd never sung before; he'd never heard her sing. And she played the cello. He hadn't known she could do that.

Saya who laughed still, but cried when she thought nobody could see, who couldn't sleep without Natsuki being there to sing her lullabies and whisper comforts. Saya who smiled, but her eyelids drooped when she wasn't concentrating, as if the effort of staying awake was too much.

He didn't know what to do, and his thoughts were just chasing themselves round in circles as he wiped the counter of the Omoro clean, face creased in thought.

"Kai?" He jumped, still on edge from the fight, the war, which had only ended about two weeks ago, and looked up to see Natsuki standing behind the bar, gazing at him hesitantly.

"Yes?" She shifted, the movement only small but continuing down her hair in a ripple.

"Can I talk to you?" She held his gaze, blue eyes calm and, he had to admit, different from Diva's, if only from the emotions behind them.

"Sure." He replied at last, chucking the rag into the sink and untying his apron. Natsuki perched on one of the barstools gracefully, and he leant his forearms on the bar as George was still prone to do when he talked to people.

"It's about Saya. She's going to fall asleep soon." She began softly, and Kai blinked.

"Fall asleep?"

"Into her Long sleep? Mine's coming soon as well, but we're out of synch… She's only got maybe two or three days." Natsuki clarified, clasping her hands in front of her. Kai frowned.

"Oh. I thought that might be coming up soon… I mean, you guys have been awake for about three years, haven't you? From Joel's Diary, it sounds like that's actually quite a long time…" He trailed off awkwardly, unsure what exactly Natsuki wanted him to say in response. She locked gazes with him once more, face serious and eyes determined.

"What are you going to do, when she falls asleep?"

"Do? Well… run the Omoro with dad, graduate school… wait for her to wake up, I guess." He gave a shrug. He'd had enough excitement to last him a while; his immediate future plans mostly consisted of staying put, and leading a quiet life. Natsuki shook her head, obviously dissatisfied with his answer.

"No, I meant with me. I can tell that most of the 'Red Shield' don't like me, Kai. I also know that Saya tends to not be very good at… ah, _detailed_ explanations. So I'd like to talk to you. What are you going to do with me? I'll follow Saya to sleep maybe a week after her. You have that week to talk to me, to ask me any questions. I'm extending the offer to everybody, but primarily you, as her older brother. Will you let me sleep alongside my sister, in peace? What will you do when we wake? I hope you'll think about it, Kai, and I hope you'll take me up on my offer." Natsuki dipped her head and slid down from her seat, giving him a tentative smile as he stared at her.

"For now, I'd like to spend as much time as possible with Saya. I hope you understand." Near silently, she slipped out of the room, heading outside and, Kai knew, probably to the beach; where Saya had been spending a lot of time with her twin.

He dropped his head, gazing at the counter top and yet not really seeing it, mind whirring.

-n/s-

Natsuki gave a little sigh as she left the Omoro, aware of a tightening in her facial features that didn't relax until she reached the beach and caught sight of her sister, sitting with her knees drawn to her chest, on the beach.

Wordlessly, she dropped down beside her, eyes following her gaze out to where the setting sun was sending its last rays dancing off the crests of the waves, making them glitter.

Natsuki's guilt at all she had done as Diva was still there, and aware as she was of how little time they had left, she refused to discuss it with Saya; preferring instead to spend the time in light and laughter. Saya's grief for Hagi was a little more open; an emotion that Natsuki shared, at least to some extent, and they mourned him together.

"I know you still blame yourself." Saya spoke softly, and they had almost never been able to make each other jump; Natsuki calmly turning her head inquisitively to examine her twin's facial expression. "We don't have much time, do we? And maybe everything will look better… after we wake up. I understand why you don't want to talk about it, Natsuki, but I want you to understand something." Saya turned her head and met Natsuki's gaze; red on blue.

"It wasn't your fault, Natsuki. None of it was your fault." Natsuki stared at her, furiously trying not to cry, not to ruin the beautiful moment and the pure feeling of her sister's _belief_ in her with ugly tears.

"Thank you." She didn't agree with her, and Saya didn't seem to expect her too. It was too soon, too raw for that. But Natsuki could thank her for the warm feeling it gave her, there on the beach, alone with the sand and the sea and the sun.

Saya turned to look out at the sea again, but something in her gaze told Natsuki that she was about to say something more. She was right; age old attuned instincts for her twin, for reading even the most subtle nuances in her mannerisms and face, were rusty for lack of practise but still there. She was wrong in that she'd expected Saya to speak; for she sang instead.

"Holding on tightly to my puzzled heart,

I was searching for something

I gazed into the dimming night sky

In the distance, I was all alone,"

"Shrouded in loneliness, without any guide,

I kept on walking

How many times have I

Made the same mistakes?" Natsuki could tell, at least at this point in Saya's song, that it was not one she was to join in with. This song was _for_ her; and all she should do was listen.

"I believe that the pain left over in my chest,

Is the proof of my life

That's why I will accept everything

And start walking again…" Saya leapt to her feet with a grace that most of the people who surrounded her now had never seen; a klutz when not paying attention to her movements, many people forgot how she could move when she danced. Spinning on one bare foot, Natsuki looked up at her; short hair being tousled by the wind, eyes determined and full of belief in her own words; sleeveless red shirt and frayed shorts, the sun silhouetting her against the darkening sky. Saya held out her hand, and Natsuki took it.

"Stand up! Our will

Is stronger than anyone's,

So help me search for the light

Left behind in this world,"

"The past cannot return,

So I refuse to dwell on it

The sun will eventually rise again,

And daybreak marks a new beginning for us all." Saya's song continued; singing of hope, of new dreams being built upon the crumbled remains of old ones, of the strength of their own will and her refusal to live in the past like so many other, bitter people did.

She sang of the future, dancing across the sand and pulling Natsuki into it with her.

Finally, when her last notes had faded into the sweet, evening air, she came to a halt, leaning her forehead against Natsuki's shoulder, eyes shut.

"I love you Natsuki. I'm so happy you came home to me."

"So am I, my sister. I love you too. Sleep well."

-n/s-

Saya had fallen asleep; slumbering in the Miyagusuku family grave where faint gleaming strands of cocoon had begun to weave themselves around her; preparing for thirty years of long, long, sleep.

Natsuki could feel her own drowsiness; her eyelids drooping when she least expected it and vision blurring before she caught herself, the small, minor injuries that inevitably happened when you were dragged around by Riku and tutored in cooking by George taking longer to heal. She knew that she wouldn't last the week, and soon she would join her twin in slumber, but first she had a request to fulfil.

She sat in the place of honour; seated with her back against the bar of the Omoro and the Red Shield members; David, Joel, Julia, Okamura, Mao, Lulu the Schiff girl and the Miyagusuku family; George, Kai and Riku, seated in a loose circle around her; all facing her, all with varying questioning, curious and even hostile expressions.

She forced herself to stop fidgeting, and raised her head, calling on old etiquette lessons to keep her head high under the weight of their gazes.

"So. I realised that none of you really know me, nor about the circumstances that befell me, outside of what Joel recorded. I asked you here to answer any questions you may have, and to ask you what the future of both myself and my sister hold." She nodded, holding all of their gazes for a brief moment, before Julia spoke, straight and to the point.

"Do you remember what happened while you were 'Diva'?" She asked, leaning forwards with her gaze fixated on Natsuki. She'd expected questions like that, and so she was able to keep her voice calm when she answered.

"Some of it. The spell bound my sense of self inside my mind, and put 'Diva' in the… control centre, if you will. I saw my confinement as a purple cage, and sometimes I could see through the bars and through my eyes, able to absorb what my senses were picking up. However, I couldn't act. I had no control over my movements; 'Diva' was in control."

"Then how did you break the spell?" Julia again; having clearly prepared exactly the questions she wanted to ask.

"Emotions. Amshel," She couldn't prevent her eyes narrowing at _his _name, but she didn't let her overwhelming hatred for the man stop her explanation. "tried to kill Saya. I love her, more than anyone else in the world. She's everything to me." Her voice dropped a little as she attempted to put into words how she felt about her twin. "She's my sister; my other half. Nothing, _nothing_ could make me angrier. He tried to kill her, using _my_ blood… and I hated. I was angry, and I hated him and I love her and I had never, never wanted to break free so badly.

"I fought. 'Diva' was a machine… any emotion or sense of personality she showed was a result of my fighting against her, rather than any actual personality. She didn't know what to do in the face of all those feelings, but the final… breakthrough came when Saya realised I, me, Natsuki, was still in there. When she realised that 'Diva' wasn't _me_. I can't describe how happy that made me feel, and I was able to break the spell." Silence greeted her heartfelt speech, and Natsuki flushed. She'd gotten far more emotional than she'd meant to.

"So you truly weren't 'Diva'?" David asked, eyes hard and expression wary. Natsuki shook her head.

"'Diva' was the result of the spell, and nothing more." She answered softly. Another pregnant pause stretched between them.

"How did Amshel even get the spell on you?" Lewis rumbled from the back, and Natsuki flinched.

"Bordeaux Sunday, Saya told me it was called?" A nod of confirmation from everyone around her. "And there's no record of exactly what happened in Joel's Diary, correct?" She clarified, and was met with more nods of confirmation. She breathed out loudly through her nose, thinking. "Did Saya ever tell you what happened? The second Joel, he never left a record of it?" She knew the answers to her questions, but asked anyway; met with 'no's in response as she'd expected.

"Then… I can't tell you what happened everywhere. Saya was the one who stayed behind in the thick of the fighting… We'd just finished performing a song for Joel, for his birthday, when the screaming started. I believe you know the cause of it, Hunter." Abruptly, they found themselves reminded that not only was Natsuki not human, but neither was David. All eyes turned to him as his expression tightened.

"Level-E's, the lowest class of vampire. They attacked the Zoo and killed the majority of the guests… The Hunters were called in, and we handled the situation, but there was far too much carnage. We found Saya and Hagi in the middle of it… Saya's confirmed that during that battle was when she turned Hagi into a chiropteran, accidentally when they were both injured." Natsuki nodded. She and Saya had spent hours catching up with each other, not least sorting out what had actually happened that night.

"Indeed. I hate violence," Natsuki took over again with a shudder that startled most people. Another bold difference between Natsuki and 'Diva'. "and Saya knows that, so she told me to get out and try to find Joel. She went to find Hagi. I managed to get through the people… I don't really remember much of it. There was fire, and blood, and death everywhere… I tried not to think about it. I got out of the crowds, but I couldn't find Joel… Instead, I saw Amshel hurrying away. Amshel was Joel's primary associate, and I assumed that Amshel would know where Joel was, or maybe even be going to him. There was that, and also…" Natsuki screwed up her eyes, trying to contain another shudder. "I couldn't go back into that mess. I couldn't. So I followed him… I don't know how much you know about our childhood, but Saya and I had never realised that we weren't human. We just… assumed.

"I followed Amshel into Diva's tower, and I found…" Natsuki gulped, but steadfastly continued on. "I found the room where they got our… 'medicine'. The room where they drained people for their blood, not just for us, but for Joel and Amshel and the other vampires there as well. We didn't know that what we drank three times a day was blood. I was horrified, and Amshel told me many truths about me, and my sister, and Joel. He told me that we weren't human either, told me that we drank blood… he bit me, and drank my own blood. He told me that Saya and I were a new kind of vampire that he'd named 'Chiropteran's; a new species of 'pureblood'. And then he cast a spell on me… I fainted, I suppose, and the next time I 'woke', I was in the cage." Natsuki's shoulders were slumped, her gaze fixed upon the floor, almost unseeing.

"What are you going to do in the future?" She jerked her head up, scrutinising Kai, but it wasn't a pointed question; just an inquiry. She deflated.

"I don't know. The way we feel after long sleeps… it's a little hard to describe, but it's as if our perspective on the world has shifted. Not much. But enough that everything feels a little… different. There's no point making plans now, as when we wake we could feel completely different." Natsuki gave a noncommittal shrug, trying not to show her relief at the change of topic.

"How are you going to get your memories back?" Julia asked suddenly, straightening with realisation and more thinking aloud than asking a question.

"What?" Natsuki stared at her blankly, along with everyone else, as Julia's gaze unfocused slightly as she thought.

"When you and Saya wake up from your long sleeps, you have no memories of your lives. You only seem to regain these memories when you drink 'the blood of awakening'; the blood of one of your chevaliers-"

"And neither I nor Saya have any living chevaliers left…" Natsuki breathed, eyes wide with the implications.

"There's that blonde guy?" Lulu piped up, but Natsuki shook her head.

"From what I remember of Nathan, he's unpredictable. He has his own agenda, and we have no way of knowing if it includes us. Though we have questions for him… we can't count on it." Natsuki murmured thoughtfully.

"So… when you wake up, neither of you will remember anything." George spoke up for the first time. He didn't sound particularly opposed to the idea.

"It looks that way." Julia agreed thoughtfully, while Natsuki sighed.

"There doesn't seem to be much we can do about it. Are all of the questions finished? Because I have some questions of my own, if you don't mind." Natsuki asked politely, as the Red Shield exchanged glances.

"No, no more questions… I think you've told us everything we need to know. And you've proved that you're truly a different person from 'Diva'. Welcome, Natsuki." Joel smiled at her, and hesitantly, Natsuki smiled back.

"What questions did you have, Natsuki?" Lewis prompted cheerfully. None of them had been oblivious to the haunted look in Natsuki's eyes when she described her experiences, and Lewis for one wanted to dispel it.

"I… I'm going to fall asleep soon. I know that I don't really know you, and you don't know me, but… I'd like permission to sleep next to Saya." Natsuki addressed George, obviously nervous, but he beamed at her.

"Of course! There's more than enough room in there." He smiled at her until she smiled back, ducking her head.

"And… when we wake up, we're probably not going to remember anything. I know you'll all take care of Saya… um…"

"We'll take care of you too, Natsuki. You're our family too." Kai said firmly. He may have been suspicious, but now he was convinced. Natsuki was not 'Diva'. Natsuki was Saya's sister, and so his sister as well. Let it not be said that Kai Miyagusuku didn't commit himself once he'd made a decision.

Natsuki had ducked her head again, trying to hide the tears welling in her eyes.

"Thank you." She whispered gratefully. "Thank you."

-n/s-

There just little enough cocoon around her twin that Natsuki could slip closer to her; entwining her arms around her. With a little happy sigh, Natsuki closed her eyes, and let the fog that had been threatening her for weeks overtake her.

She fell asleep, as herself at last, with her sister at last, home, at last.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everybody! Thank you so much to everybody who reviewedalerted/favourite this, it means a lot to me to know you guys are reading and enjoying it!**

**A couple of things to say - firstly that some people were quite upset with Hagi's death. Trust me, I was equally upset with it, but I promise it does have a point in the plot and development of not only the story but also the characters, so it wasn't just me killing him for sadness or something. Hope you guys can bear with me!**

**Also, I realise that this is a slightly shorter chapter than the previous ones, and that will probably continue. They won't get ridiculously short (I seem to be incapable of writing short things, to be honest), but they will be shorter. This is for several reasons; one being that I find the story's material easier to write like this, and also that it shortens the wait between updates. I hope that's not too much of a problem for anyone.**

**The song used in this chapter is 'Daybreak', by Hatsune Miku.**

**Thank you for reading again, and please review! XD **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Kai paused at the top of the long flight of steps that led to the mausoleum, shading his eyes against the sun for a moment and just _breathed_.

It had been twenty seven years since the twins had fallen asleep, and much had changed during that time. George, a man nearing sixty when the cocoons had formed around the twins, had died last year in his sleep, leaving behind the Omoro and letters for all of his children - including both Saya and Natsuki. Those letters now sat unopened on the bedside table of their room, which hadn't been touched other than the occasional clean.

The grief from his passing still lingered, but it was less raw, less sharp edged. George Miyagusuku had taught his kids to live in the present, and live for the future, and both Kai and Riku observed that. They mourned him, yes, but they carried on living at the same time.

Riku had gone to Tokyo to attend a top university there, and was now happily settled in the suburbs of the city with a wife and two kids, aged forty two.

Kai, at forty-four and nearing forty five, had no children, but a long term girlfriend called Meryl. Four and a half years ago, at much prompting from a much aged David (whom Kai swore was only still alive due to being a Hunter, though David liked to insist it was his strength of character) he had sat her down and finally told her the truth; answering her impatient questions about the sisters he was waiting for, about his visits to his family grave, about the stone figure of Hagi which resided there. She'd accepted it all; a very resilient character who insisted on hearing absolutely _everything_, she had quickly joined him on his weekly visits to the grave. She wasn't with him today; sometimes, he needed to go alone.

David and Julia, who had passed away, had had one son, whom David had refused to pass on the legacy of his name to and had instead named him Josh. Josh was nearing twenty-two, still in a local college and just as intelligent, curious and invested in chiropteran research as his mother had been.

Lewis hung around the Omoro, a wizened favourite of the public who liked to sit by the bar and alternatively sing and tell jokes, both of which tended to get more raucous the more drunk he became.

Lulu, who'd already been living on borrowed time due to her being a Schiff, had also passed away sixteen years ago, happy and at peace; grateful that she'd managed to experience life properly, and eager to share it with her fellow Schiff when she died.

Joel hadn't married (despite being named the Bachelor of the year by some women's magazine, something that both Kai, Lewis and David found hilariously funny and never failed to tease him about) and hadn't had children either. He lived nearby the Omoro, funding the Silverstein Chiropteran research facility - set up by Julia and now taken over by her son - living quietly and simply as Kai, Lewis and David did.

Mao and Okamura had gotten married, with minimal bitching on the actual day but involving several epic cat fights during the planning, the likes of which Kai didn't think could be rivalled. They'd moved to America, and while they were still in touch, they were no longer as close as they had been.

It was a much calmer world that Saya and Natsuki would soon wake up in; quieter and simpler, with hopefully no bloodshed on the horizon. Life unrolled smoothly.

Kai grinned and continued towards the stone grave where his sisters slept. He doubted it would last, to be honest.

-n/s-

"Even the constant distance is changing,

And the light I only think I can see

Is getting further away,"

"_Where is the start of today?_

_Where is the end of tomorrow?_"

"**The irregular hours are fooling my mind**

**And even my memories**

**I am only resting here in the quiet,**"

"_Until the end of this dream_

_We're going to keep on dancing here, just for a little while_

_We want to be sure, want to be sure_

_So we fall asleep again,_"

"When I opened my eyes, it was dawn

If I keep silent,

I'll know of precious things,"

"**As if I'm going up in a spiral**

**I struggle and struggle**

**But something always comes of it,**"

"I leave my body to the waves

It can only take me to old places

Overcome by the constant beat,"

"**I'm looking for the reasons to live,**

**The reasons to wake; still resting**

**I'm sick in mind, if not in body,**"

"_Until we wake from this dream_

_We want to keep on singing here, just for a little while_

_We want to be sure, want to be sure_

_Even if our voices become strained,_"

"**I'm still overcome,**

Today is disappearing,

**If that can become a comfort,**

My world is connected,"

""_Until the end of this dream_

_We're going to keep on dancing here, just for a little while_

_We want to be sure, want to be sure_

_So we fall asleep again,_"

They sang through their dreams, twined around each other. They'd been to this dreamland before; but there'd always been a mirror separating them. They didn't know why, and they didn't care.

Now, they were together again, as they should be.

They slept.

They dreamed.

They sang.

-n/s-

Kai rested a hand on the webbed surface of the cocoon, smiling softly at the echoes of song he could hear. He couldn't make out anything more than the odd word, over the steady, synchronised sound of their hearts beating.

So closely had they fallen asleep that they simply stayed together; rather than two separate cocoons, they slept inside one, which pulsed gently with purple light and echoed with snatches of singing.

"Three more years, I think. About that. Man, everything's changed so much… but we don't know if you're gonna remember enough to realise that… I can't say I'm sorry about that though. You've both had such difficult lives. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have a couple of years without those memories…" He murmured softly. Their heartbeat thumped steadily, and he grinned at them; two pale figures barely visible through the webbing, and covered by masses of long, long, dark hair, forming a protective circle like an inner cocoon.

"I wonder what you'll be like, without your pasts…"

* * *

><p><strong>Shorter, filler chapter this week, I know. Sorry if that's disappointing for some people, but it made more sense to me structurally to split it from the next chapter - which is well under way, and I will hopefully be able to get it up within another week. This is <strong>**unusually short**** - it will be ****very rare**** for chapters to be this short, and they will only ever be this way for a good reason.**

**Thank you again to everybody who reviewed/story alerted/favourite this, I cannot thank you enough. Reviewers, I haven't been able to reply to all of you individually, and probably won't unless you ask a direct question, but be aware that I read and treasure every single review I am lucky enough to get. :)**

**Hope everybody enjoyed this anyway, and please review! Tell me what you think of all that's happened in those 30 years - people familiar with Blood+, do you think it's realistic? Let me know! XD **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

_2036, Okinawa_

Bright light… so bright. An orb, a giant glowing orb in the sky. They didn't understand. It was too bright to look at, so they looked at the ground instead, rising on shaky limbs; pale from long years hidden from the sun, damp from the trailing, liquefying tendrils of the cocoon they'd been sleeping in.

It was safe in there, but they knew it was time to wake up, time to go out into the world.

Exactly what this 'world' was… that remained to be seen. All they knew was that they were together, as they should be, and that it was time.

Time to live again.

-n/s-

Meryl stood at the top of the stairs, her boyfriend a few steps behind her, and stared at the sight before her.

Usually, the small, stone space in front of the dome of the mausoleum was bare; maybe covered in dust or leaves from the surrounding countryside. Usually, she could feel the vibrations of two strong hearts determinedly beating beneath her feet, when she felt for it - which she always did. Usually, the door to the mausoleum was shut.

She stared.

Two young girls stood there, shaky and achingly beautiful. Pale, porcelain skin contrasted their long swathes of dark hair; which trailed over both their bodies and fell to the floor in tangles. One had bright blue eyes, set in a finely boned face identical in almost every way to her twin's, save her bright red eyes. They blinked at her owlishly, confused and curious and wary, clutching onto each other to keep themselves upright.

She knew what they looked like, roughly; she'd seen photos. She expected it, but seeing a photo was alarmingly different from seeing them in the flesh.

Saya and Natsuki were awake.

"Kai…" She breathed. "Kai!" Again, louder, and finally her boyfriend reached her, frowning.

"What?" She couldn't answer, but he'd seen.

They were _awake_.

-n/s-

_Half a year later_

"Natsuki, if you don't move your butt I'm going to leave without you!" Saya yelled, stamping her foot and crossing her arms. Kai, standing in the doorway and swinging his car keys, suppressed a chuckle.

"Liar! You can't leave without me, we're doing a duet!" Natsuki retorted, _finally_ appearing at the top of the stairs and hurrying down, unbound hair streaming behind her. Saya tossed her head, her own dark hair swishing, and both of them continued bickering as they followed Kai to the car.

Kai had been right when he'd thought that life would get both more exciting and more complicated when the twins woke up.

They hadn't remembered anything, and a surprisingly few, slightly stressful weeks had been spent teaching them things; both intensely questioning, curious and bright eyed and _innocent_, in a way the Saya and Natsuki of old hadn't had the chance to be since their early days in the Zoo.

It didn't take long for them to acclimatise; incredibly resilient and fast learning; more so together than Saya had been by herself, so long ago. They'd started at a high school just outside the local town, it having been decided that the local one where Saya had attended briefly was too risky. Kaori, Saya's best friend, worked there as a teacher, and she would certainly recognise Saya, even with her long hair.

Immersing themselves in the school curriculum, they'd quickly rediscovered their love for music. Even without their memories, Natsuki picked up the piano at an almost alarming rate, and Saya did the same with the cello.

What they really loved to do, however, was sing.

Cue an extremely determined pair of talented, pretty girls, and Kai was driving them off to their first official audition for a record company. How Natsuki and Saya had managed to secure that, Kai would never know. He'd decided he was probably better off in the dark, looking at their sly grins when asked about it.

"Kai! Hurry up!" Natsuki stuck her head out of the van, trying not to catch her hair on the window, while Saya bellowed at him. Grinning and shaking his head, he locked up the Omoro and purposefully ambled over to the car, ignoring Saya and Natsuki's shrieking at him to get a move on good naturedly.

-n/s-

"You nervous?" Natsuki turned away from the mirror where she'd been touching up her lip-gloss, glancing over at her sister, who was tying her long hair up in their customary side ponytails.

"Actually… no. You?" Saya met her gaze, grinning.

"No. Somehow… this song, we wrote. It doesn't feel like… it feels like something we'd already sung, you know? Maybe from the time we can't remember. I feel like we've performed it before… or something." Natsuki nodded, unable to help the small flicker of relief that Saya was, as ever, on the same page as her. She didn't know where her insecurity came from, as she knew Saya didn't share it (at least not to the same extent), but she suspected it was, like the feeling about their song, from before.

Before the beginning of this year. Before their memories, the memories they had access to, began; in that space of time from their birth up until Kai had taken them in which was covered by a deep fog. They occasionally got flashes; feelings, images, colours, but none of it made much sense.

"Yeah. I hope we got it right." Saya smirked at her.

"Even if it's not exactly how we wrote it before, obviously it's still amazing, and we're going to be amazing." Saya finished fixing her hair and began to check her make-up again, talking almost dismissively. Natsuki giggled, and Saya soon joined her.

-n/s-

Their original song 'Gemini' (originally written over two hundred years ago, though nobody was aware of that) was a huge hit, and they were picked up by an Agent; a Nathan Kuran - the most delightfully flamboyant man the twins had ever met - and signed with a record label within the end of the week.

The song was officially released a month later, and the hype that came with it shocked everyone - except Nathan, who instantly declared that they had much to plan for; songs to write and record, music videos to shoot, costumes to be fit and concert dates to plan.

When the twins protested that they weren't nearly popular enough to warrant that, Nathan merely said 'not yet'. Soon, the three were united with their vision of the future; glittered, famous and full of music.

* * *

><p><strong>I know, I know - tiny chapter. But my plan doesn't work unless I split it here! <strong>

**Next chapter will be longer, and will explain how Nathan (yes, same Nathan) has managed to not be recognised by the old Red Shield members.**

**Hope you enjoyed, despite it's brief length, and please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Nathan hummed to himself settled into the leather seat of the private car, several shopping bags still hooked around the crook of his left elbow, while he scrolled down his iPhone absentmindedly. As a tanned, dark eyed and equally dark haired young man (oh, the wonders of spray tan, hair dye and contact lenses), it had been ridiculously easy to integrate himself into the twins' lives. He couldn't help but be a little disappointed by the Red Shield's lack of care, but not entirely surprised by it - after all, aside from his love of music and performing, it was the main reason he had infiltrated that record label as an agent in the first place.

He'd been both bemused and shocked by the twins' enthusiastic acceptance of him - even after two months of working with them, their easy affection was still something that he was getting used to. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been treated as if… well. As if he was treasured as a friend.

Spending so much time with the twins had been more enjoyable than Nathan had anticipated - not only did their happy dispositions coupled with Nathan's easy going nature mean a fast friendship, but they were dedicated, hardworking. They were a joy to be around and work with - imaginative and slightly crazy (especially in Saya's case), Nathan had suddenly found himself in the unforeseen position of being close with them.

It was an eventuality he hadn't even allowed himself to wish for, and it was something that he didn't expect to last.

But he would treasure it.

With a little sigh, he broke off his song and fully focused his attention on his phone's screen, thumb smoothing over the glass with practised precision as he scanned the words. As soon as he found what he was looking for, a wide grin broke out across his face.

_THE OTONASHI TWINS_, the headline proclaimed, much to his delight. Glancing at the time quickly, he decided he had long enough to read the article; rearranging his shopping bags while he waited for the screen to load.

_The Otonashi Twins, Saya and Natsuki, were a nationwide hit within three weeks of the release of their first album two months ago; _'Sisters Two'. _Their first song, _'Gemini'_ was popular, but that was nothing compared to how well the rest of the album was received. Number One's from the album were _'World's End Dancehall'_, _'Fairyland'_ and _'Get Wild'_, with the other songs numbered in the top twenty. _

_The twins, at sixteen years old, are identical in every way apart from their unique eyes; Natsuki sports deep blue eyes while her sister's are an unusual rusty red colour. Both Saya and Natsuki suffer from a condition known as 'amnesia'; a loss of memory as a result of shock, injury, psychological disturbance or medical disorder. Neither of the girls remember anything from their lives before this year. It's unclear why this is, but the twins refuse to let it bring them down. In an interview with _Seventeen_ magazine Saya cheerfully said; "…it's pointless, so we don't worry about it. We can't change it, and the lack of memory doesn't change who we are as people." Natsuki, who agrees with her sister, added that "Not having a past can be difficult, but as Saya said it doesn't change who we are, and it doesn't change our love for music or our determination to sing."_

_The twins co-write all of their songs, as Natsuki plays the piano and Saya is quite the skilled cellist. They get inspiration for their songs from their lives and the lives and experiences of people around them, as well as from their imagination, and it's worked very well so far; everybody loves it._

_The future looks bright for the Otonashi twins, and we can't wait to see what they do next._

Nathan grinned to himself. _Next? _He thought to himself. _Oh, just you wait. The world isn't going to know what's hit them._

-n/s-

It was the twin's first tour, but they knew the drill by now. That didn't stop them feeling excited, hyped up and blood thrumming in anticipation of performing in front of a screaming, ecstatic crowd.

They stood in the wings, costumes sparkling and breathing what smelt like more hair spray than air. The look they had gone for with their hair in their very first audition; one long ponytail on the sides of their heads, Saya's on the right and Natsuki's on the left, had stuck, and so for this tour of their first album, the style remained. Perhaps next… later, they would change that signature hair style, but for now it worked.

Glittering skirts and accessories, boots and expensive make-up; the Otonashi twins were breathtaking.

The cue for the music started, and with flashing smiles, they made their entrance; microphones clutched in their hands as they danced.

The crowd went crazy, cheering and waving, hands outstretched towards the stage.

-n/s-

Nathan stood in the twin's writing room, hands on his hips as he slowly turned; pale blue eyes sweeping over the room. An upright piano stood in the corner, while a keyboard was balanced somewhat precariously on a low table in the centre of the room. The rest of said table was covered in pieces of paper, pens and sticky labels, glimpses of half-finished verses and bars of music scribbled across them. Several empty coke cans and empty tea mugs littered the table. Some paper had fallen to the hardwood floor, but a space was left clear in the corner for Saya's cello, and a larger space to the left of the door had several beanbags and large pillows squashed into it. One wall was taken up with shelves loaded with knickknacks and various awards and framed photos, while opposite a long desk stood against the wall with a large monitor and more paper.

What Nathan was looking at, however, were the walls.

Rather self-obsessed to the outside observer, Nathan knew that it was these walls that inspired the girls, that kept them pushing through writer's block and lack of sleep and stress. Every available space of wall had magazine excerpts plastered across them, newspaper clippings, interview spreads, photo-shoots, tabloids, everything positive ever said about the twins and their careers was up here.

_Otonashi twin's second album a worldwide hit, trumping the first by miles! _Sun's Rays_ is an upbeat album, with songs that draw smiles and dances from all!_

The album cover, a photo of both twins leaning back to back and grinning up at the camera, the light falling in dappled patterns across their faces and pastel dresses, noses scrunched up, was stuck just underneath it, with the back of the album next to it. Nathan moved closer, eyes flicking over the song list:

_Yellow_

_Levan Polka_

_Caramel Dance_

_World is Mine_

_Double Lariat_

_Honey_

_Glitter_

_The Bonus Stage_

_Rainbow Girl_

_Joy of Love_

Nathan smiled briefly to himself. So innocent. So full of light and laughter. Much like their first album… his eyes traced the path from memory as he moved along the walls, fingertips brushing over glossy sheets of the twins.

_Aha…_ There it was. _Sisters Two_.

_Gemini, World's End Dancehall, Sanctuary_... Nathan smiled again. _Filozofio, Promise, Fairyland, Heart and Soul, My Way, Prayer, Result, Fortune, Heroine_… all so full of hope and love and light. _Fairyland_ for Hunter's sake, they were children, girls, laughing and giggling and yet… Nathan closed his eyes, as if in pain, disguised, tanned hand resting over a photo of the twins; dressed in traditional kimonos, Saya's red and pink while Natsuki's was teal and blue, identical, serene smiles on their faces.

_I wonder… will you be able to smile like that, after? Will you still laugh like you do now?_

As if they'd heard his thoughts, a smattering of laughter echoed through the house, causing Nathan to open his eyes, gaze catching on the caption over the photo his hand was touching.

_Otonashi twins release their own clothing line! Based loosely on their trend-setting performance costumes, all of which they had a hand in designing, their clothing line _Sound_ is fun, stylish and aimed at people from all walks of life - there's something there for everyone!_

Skirts and belts and hair pieces and stockings and shirts and slogans and patterns… for a while, the house had become more like a fashion boutique than a house, this room like a designer grad student cramming for exams than the planning room of two singers.

_Perfume from Natsuki Otonashi, _Summer Hope_, sells out within hours of stores opening!_

A photo of Natsuki holding the bottle, dazzling blue eyes half closed and lips curved upwards into a smirk; full of fun and girlish innocence and teasing.

The bottle itself; a translucent dark blue, in the shape of a seashell with a neck and glinting slightly with swirling silver tracing.

_Summer's Hope. And you don't even know the person who gave you that name… you don't even know why._

_Or maybe… some part of you does._ Nathan wondered, brushing his fingers over another article:

_Third album from the world-famous Saya and Natsuki, _Behind_ is a revealing series of songs referring to everything they cannot remember, and everything they have left behind but cannot miss properly. Their musical talent is developing before our eyes, and the world waits in breathless anticipation for what will come next!_

_Ah._ _Behind_ had been unexpected, even to those who were aware of their darker pasts. The album cover, in pride place and largest of all; a bare, treeless tree stood in stark contrast against a dusky purple sky. The twins sat among the branches, hair loose and trailing through the branches. Natsuki wore red so dark it looked black, while Saya was in navy blue; loose dresses blowing in a frozen wind.

_Decision, Just be Friends, Innocence, Oblivious, Together When…?, Guilty Rose, Marionette, Fated… White Reflection, Eternal Snow._

The pain of being apart, the pain of betrayal that still stung no matter how false it had been, the pain of fear and anger, of grief, was leaking through their innocent, happy faces. The memories, the weight of hundreds of years were barely contained, leaking through the cracks.

A poster of the twins, a close up of their faces in shadowed light, eyes near glowing and shadowed, with a lyric running across it in white cursive.

"_Hold me tight, tight enough to break me"_

Nathan raised his eyes, glinting red in the dying sunlight.

_It's time._

-n/s-

"Nathan!" Natsuki noticed their agent standing in the shadows of the porch where she and Saya were dancing along to the radio. Her twin instantly spun around on one foot, both of them slightly sweaty and dishevelled, long hair heavy over their backs.

"Nathan!" Saya echoed, "Come dance with us!" Laughing the twins ran forwards and tugged him into the light. Nathan came, and as soon as the light fell on the trio, the twins stopped, hand frozen on his arms as he kept his gaze lowered, the hint of a small smile hovering around his mouth.

"N-Nathan?" Saya repeated, dark brown eyes wide and raking over Nathan's form as Natsuki did the same, because he was Nathan and yet at the same time not-

Blonde hair fell in familiar curls over his forehead, but the colour was all wrong- Nathan had brown hair, nearly as dark as theirs, didn't he?

"Why do you look like that? Why's your skin so pale? Nathan, what's going on?" Saya, voice inquisitive and trying to joke only something was wrong- not wrong, not exactly but something was different and something was about to change-

His skin was pale, almost as pale as theirs, his hair was blonde and- his eyes were blue.

He raised his head, looking like a stranger and yet so familiar and beloved to them, and grinned.

"My ladies." He greeted them, the familiar nickname rolling off his tongue as it always did, and yet- something was different.

"Nathan? What's going on?" Natsuki demanded, both her and Saya backing away in unison, scared but trying not to show it. This wasn't _their_ Nathan. The question was, which one was real?

"I am sorry to cut short such a beautiful time, my ladies, but the time has come." His voice was unusually sombre, tinted with something they couldn't name or understand.

"Wha- what do you mean?" Nathan shook his head and approached them, long legs covering the meagre distance faster than either of them could react.

"Time to wake up now, princess." Nathan had approached Saya first, a small syringe slipping into his hand from his left sleeve without either of them noticing.

Saya, in shock and not expecting any kind of sudden movement, was in no way prepared for her agent, her friend, to lunge forwards and stab her in the neck with a needle.

With a choked cry, her knees gave out, but Nathan caught her around the waist as he continued to push the syringe, injecting the liquid into her veins. She could feel it, a warm, tingling sensation oozing through her body from that spot on her neck, which felt like it was burning, as if Nathan had stabbed her with a hot poker and her body was getting hotter and hotter-

Natsuki, until that point blocked from her sister by Nathan's body, let out a harsh scream when Saya collapsed in Nathan's arms, just as he finished injecting her.

Saya hadn't been able to see what it was, but Natsuki could see; red and thick, like- like _blood_.

Bare moments ago, their lives had been happy and normal, both of them together and taking the world by storm, riding the high of their dreams coming true and loved and protected and it felt like flying, and now it had been ruined in a few short seconds, with the changed appearance of a man they both knew and loved and a syringe.

Natsuki stared at her sister's crumpled form as Nathan slowly, reverently, lowered her to the ground, before something in her snapped. She rocketed into Nathan, who barely managed to keep them from crashing to the floor, fists flying, angry tears running down her face.

"What did you do to her, you bastard, how could you, what have you done - get _away_, get away from her you-" Shrieking and pummelling him with her fists, Natsuki tried to get Nathan from her twin, mind near blank with terror _what if it's poison, what if she's dead, what if I never see her alive again how could I live without her_

"You too, princess. Your turn now." He murmured and then a burning pressure flared to life on her neck and she knew with a cold certainty that somehow he had injected her, that whatever substance -_it looks like blood oh god no it can't be blood what's happening to us_-that was running through Saya's veins was now invading hers. With a gasp, Natsuki blacked out, her body succumbing to the burning heat.

-n/s-

Nathan stared down at the twins. The pureblood princesses, vampires so unusual and unlike any other, the forbidden vampire twins… the lost daughters of the House of Kuran.

He watched as they lay still and silent, faces slack, as his blood, Kuran blood, burnt away the blocks in their minds; awakening memories and powers that had been forgotten for the last thirty four years.

Nathan Mahler, servant to the family of Kuran, looked out into the night, and smiled. Things were starting to move, a little… things were being set in motion. And he would be there through it all, right beside the family he had sworn is life, blood and fangs to for the rest of eternity, serving.

Kai came hurtling through seconds later, Meryl right behind him, to find the girls passed out on the porch, a small breeze rustling the otherwise empty space. Tinny music still played from the radio in the corner.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, look it's done! I know it's been a while, but this part of the story I'm not particularly inspired by - this is here for the request Princesa de la Luna made when she asked me to write this story. It starts to get a little more exciting soon, and the Vampire Knight storyline will come in in a few chapters!<strong>

**Hope you enjoyed, and thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, story alerted and favourited! X**


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